What is global warming? If you ask people this question, they will probably just answer it by saying it’s the increase in temperatures all around the world, and they might pretend that it isn’t really a big deal. However, global warming is actually one of the biggest problems that this world is currently facing, and whether you think or not, it’s approaching us faster than we think.
Let’s start off by answering the basic question: What exactly is global warming? It’s the increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere caused by many different factors like increased levels of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and the absorption of sunlight by greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. A greenhouse gas can be described as any gas in the atmosphere that has the ability to absorb the heat in the atmosphere, which traps heat in the atmosphere. The most common examples of greenhouse gases are water vapor, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. There are many ways global warming can affect the world and the people who inhabit it.
The most obvious effect of it is that it can increase the temperatures all around the world. One of the biggest problems that can arise from the increase of temperature around the world is the melting of all the ice caps and glaciers in Antarctica and other places around the world. The amount of thick sea ice will reduce if they melt, which means that less heat will be reflected back into the atmosphere and more will be absorbed by the Oceans. Around 69% of all the fresh water that can be found in this world is found in glaciers located in Antarctica. In some cases, increased temperatures will not just melt the water, but they can also cause the water to evaporate, which will cause half the fresh water in the world to suddenly disappear. There has already been a huge decrease in the number of glaciers present over the decades.
Another problem associated with global warming is the rise of sea levels and ocean acidification. When it comes to sea level, the global sea level has already gone up eight inches since 1970, and it’s only predicted to increase in the coming years. It will come as a surprise to a lot of people when they find out that in an IPCC report released in September 2013, climate scientists declared that they are close to 100% sure that it’s humans and human activities that caused this increase in global sea levels. However, sea level isn’t the only factor of oceans that are being affected by global warming, acidification is another one. As the levels of Carbon Dioxide increase in the world, the oceans absorb more and more of the gas, which turns into carbonic acid. This won’t just affect the oceans themselves, but it’ll also impact all of the wildlife that’s living in the oceans. Most wildlife in the oceans can only tolerate the typical temperatures in the oceans, but they can’t withstand the high temperatures that are caused by global warming. Also, the shells of many organisms are made with calcium carbonate, and unfortunately, their shells dissolve in acid. As the oceans absorb more and more CO2, the more shells of wildlife organisms will be dissolved, which is detrimental to their health as well as the health of organisms around them. The ocean acidity has already increased by a large percent over the last 300 years, and it’s predicted to increase in the future, which isn’t a good thing.
There have already been a couple of events that foreshadowed the rise of global warming in the recent past such as all the wildfires that have been occurring in many different places in the last few years. The wildfire smoke doesn’t just contribute to global warming, but it has already been proven by scientists to be more harmful to humans than the pollution from cars, which itself has already been proven to be dangerous. However, a good thing is that we humans can do many things to alter this.
We might not be able to prevent global warming completely, but we can take certain precautions and follow certain rules to contribute to the downfall of global warming. You can start using energy-efficient devices, power your home with renewable energy vs nonrenewable, reduce food and water waste, drive a fuel-efficient vehicle, recycle as much as you can, and overall reduce activities that cause pollution in the air. Pollution of harmful chemicals is the primary cause of global warming and the first step towards this is to convert to all renewable resources and recycle as many products you can, because as you throw more and more trash, the more trash that will have to be burnt, thus increasing the amount of pollution in the environment. Most people also have cars that run on fuel, but shifting to cars that run on electricity can reduce pollution by a large amount.
I, myself, would argue that cars and appliances are the main cause of pollution because of how common they are. I strongly encourage people to buy fuel-efficient cars, and I also believe that it will cause a huge change that people haven’t seen much of before.