ENGL191
12/11/13
Global Warming
Introduction
The Earth’s heat is controlled by the
balance of the contribution of energy from the sun and its release into the
space. Particular gases regulate the balance of the hotness and are known to as
greenhouse gases. The energy that comes
from the sun is in the form of short wave radiation, and one third estimation of
it is redirected back to the space. The other portion is engrossed by lands or
oceans after which it heats the earth surface and discharges long wave
radiation. Greenhouse gases which happen obviously include water vapor, Co2,
methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide which when put together builds a blanket
effect which in return warms the earth. Thus, global warming is the upswing in
atmospheric temperatures due to the greenhouse effect which is mainly
instigated by human activities (Maslin, 2008, p.
15).
This issue has been a major concern in
the 21st century. It is the most crucial
science issue facing the modern world due to the challenge it presents to the
structure of the global society. It
encompasses a wide range of areas including economics, sociology, local
politics, peoples’ lifestyles, and geopolitics among other areas. Increase in
gases such as carbon dioxide is the major contributor of global warming which
results from fossil burning and deforestation. For the last half million years,
there has been a considerable increase in the level of carbon dioxide and
research demonstrates that, the amount could be even higher. Scientists are
also of the opinion that this is facilitating the earth to warm faster than any
other past period. This is supported by the latest report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which shows that the
scientific uncertainties of temperature rise are basically resolved. An
analysis and review of the publication confirm that there is a 0.75 degrees
Celsius increase in global temperatures and 22 cm rise in sea level in 20th
century (Change, 2008, p. 18).
Present Warming and Future Trends
Weather experts believe that fast heating
is as a result of human modifications to the environment and the natural disparity
on a minor rate. This may arise due to human engagements such as industrial
activities, land misuse, among others which enhances the alteration of the structure
of Earth’s atmosphere from waste to gases.
Forecasting future climate variations will first entail the prediction
of fossil-fuel and land-use sources of CO2, gases, and aerosols. The amount of Co2
in the future will heavily rely on what portions are taken up by land, and the
oceans. Land exchanges are sensitive to climate change, and they vary widely
depending on time and soil decomposition. The variation of climate in the
forthcoming will be determined by environmental sensitivity as well as future
weather set up including human activities. Upcoming Climate disparities rely on
assumed situations, and IPCC has a broad range of scenarios. One of their main
setting which is used in climate model studies employs quick growth rates such
that annual greenhouse gas discharge continue to advance. This is a crucial
scenario in the sense that it provides a sensibly large signal in studies of
the replicated climate response (Change, 2008,
p. 19).
The IPCC set ups include a wide range of
assumptions about future economic and technological expansions, including some
that permit gas emissions decreases. One key disadvantage about these molds is
that there are uncertainties underlying them. This incorporates such areas as
population growth, economic advancement, lifestyle selections, technological
changes, and energy replacements. This avails a significant chance to study
situations developed from numerous viewpoints in seeing strategies for dealing
with climate change. For instance, credible suppositions for technological
evolvement and human factors were seen to achieve radiate forcing. This set up
aids in forecasting temperature increase of 0.75 degrees Celsius by 2050. The
reason behind 2050 and not2100 is that, it is complex to foresee the
technological know-hows that may sanction drop of greenhouse gas emanations by
2100 (Change, 2008, p. 19).
Impacts and Effects
There is global evidence of the impacts
of climate change which is relative to both its causes and effects. There is no specific distribution of the
effects, but they vary depending on latitude, altitudes, and groups of people
in some cases. For example, certain
regions may experience large number of hurricane, while others may oversee prolonged
periods of drought. Some other parts may
be prone to vector diseases due to temperature increase. Also, it may affect diverse groups of people
at different degrees. This is mainly due to the coping capability of different
countries and people residing in those countries. In apprehending the issues of
temperature rise and its impacts, one key issue to take into consideration is
that of information. It is significant
in preventing and adapting to current and future impacts of climate change.
Below are the impacts and effects of global warming (Ibarrarán, 2009, p. 3).
There is vast evidence that human
activities are changing the world’s climate. For many years, the earth’s
atmosphere has changed very little, but in today’s society, there are
difficulties in keeping the balance. Greenhouse gases are being added to the
atmosphere at a devastating rate. Since the time of the industrial revolution,
human acts and creations from transport, agriculture, fossil fuels,
deforestation, waste disposal, land utilization, biomass burning, and industrial
processes, among other things have contributed immensely to the rise in the
concentrations of greenhouse gases (Casper,
2010, p. 3). These acts are
changing the environment swiftly than in the past years. This has negatively influenced all spheres
starting from environment, social, and economic sector. This rise in
temperatures has caused the melting of ice sheets that cover various parts of
the continents. This results to decreased amounts of fresh water available
which may have severe repercussions to the people in different parts of the
world. Shortage of water will then result to less food grown, which will lead
to a hungry population.
Global warming has influenced
ecosystems. It is one of the most controversial issues facing the society
today. It entails complex and far reaching global issues that can have severe
and permanent effects in the environment. This also involves personal and
lifestyle choices. While it is evident
that some people may suffer the unfavorable results more than others and others
may be eager to make bigger lifestyle changes, each one has a duty and stake in
the outcome. In reference to the third report issued by Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change in 2001, the data which was collected and represented air and
ocean temperatures, habitat properties and wildlife patterns, demonstrated a
wide range of changes. There was the
shrinking of glaciers, melting of permafrost and ice breakups on rivers, among
other changes. Rise in temperatures has also led to prolonging of mid to high
latitude growing seasons, shift of plant and animals’ ranges, decrease of some
plant and animal populations, earlier flowering of trees, emergency of insects,
and egg-laying in birds. The connection
between the changes in regional temperatures and observed variations in
physical and biological settings has been renowned in many aquatic,
terrestrial, and marine environments. As
the earth warms under the sway of worldwide warming, species that require
cooler conditions will attempt to relocate to favorable places. They will
migrate universally closer to the polar areas or locally up mountains ranges to
higher elevations. Also, as the ground melts, it disrupts the physical and
chemical constitutes of the ecosystem by forcing the ground to shift and settle,
upsetting buildings and twisting roads and railroad tracks, as well as
discharging methane gas into the atmosphere
(Casper, 2010, p. 5).
There is also a change in weather
patterns. For instance, El Nino
incidences have been a problem especially in the eastern Pacific. There has
been a rise in extreme weather events such as hurricanes. In some geographical
areas, drought has become more predominant. This is particular in Africa, Asia,
Australia, and American Southwest. Migration trends are also affected; good
examples are those of beluga whales, butterflies, and polar bears. Spring is
approaching earlier than other times which affect the timing of bird and fish
relocation, egg-laying, leaf unfolding, and spring planting for agriculture.
Since 1980, growing seasons have become longer which has had detrimental
consequences on food production.
Scientists foresee increase in the magnitude of these changes in the
future and beyond. The major concern is that many species and ecosystems will
not be in a capacity to handle or adapt quickly due to the effects of universal
heating to the environment. This will be
accompanied by other changes such as floods, insect infections, and spread of
diseases, wildlife, and drought. These variables have the chance to destroy habitats
permanently which can be a blow to the world.
Specifically, the alpine and polar species are vulnerable to the effects
of climate change due to the reason that the movement of species to higher
mountains will shrink their habitats, leaving them homeless (Casper, 2010, p. 4).
Observed and Expected Effects on
Ecosystem
There are numerous pieces of physical
signal that scientists have already acknowledged, showing that global warming
is progressing and distressing all ecosystems on Earth. Through the management
of health ecological conditions, the weather experts can see the impacts
climate change is having on the individual constituents that incorporate the
ecosystem. Due to the reason that an ecosystem is such a firmly knit system of
living things with their natural environment, a disturbance of one constituent
will create a ripple effect which will see an upset to the entire ecosystem (Casper, 2010, p. 10).
There are high expectations on polar and
ice-related changes. Climate change in the polar areas is foreseen to be more
rapid and severe than anywhere else. If snow and ice melts, there will be an
upset of the albedo of environments. As
darker surfaces increase, there will be upsurge in sunlight absorption which
heats up the earth’s surface and atmosphere. Additionally, as the global
species continue to relocate northward under heating temperatures, thick dark
vegetation will crowd areas that were once extensive open snowfields, thereby
reducing the albedo. Rise in winter
temperatures, in the past century, has ensured a decline in the depth and
extent of sea ice, the melting of permafrost, and future freezing and earlier
disintegration dates of winter sea ice. There is also extensive evidence that
glaciers are receding in many areas of the world. This will have severe effects
on feeding and breeding habits of certain animals and lifestyles of human
beings thereby negatively influencing them
(Casper, 2010, p. 11).
Fire and droughts are also perceived to
have a wider role to play in the future. Past studies show that nights have
warmed up more than days have. Since 1950s, temperatures on land have swiftly
up surged. This will enhance the number of heat waves that strike urban areas
causing heat associated illnesses and deaths. There are experiences of the
hydrologic cycle with rise in evaporation. This will end up causing soils and
vegetation to dry up. As temperature rise and flora dries out, different areas
will experience drier effects under severe conditions which will cause common wildfires (Casper, 2010, p. 12).
Other observed and expected effects will
be biological and physical changes. There will be advanced occurrences and
spread of diseases. This will in turn expose large population to pathogens.
This is because escalation in temperatures and precipitation will facilitate
the spread of diseases from rodents and insects to wide areas. Also, the rising
of sea levels due to crumbling of glaciers will cause coral to lose the
symbiotic algae that they possess for their nourishment. This will cause them
to lose their beauty and vibrant colors, the result will be a bleached rock
which is white in color. Physical changes include earlier springs, longer
growing seasons, change in migration patterns of animals, and the effect on
breeding periods (Casper, 2010, p. 13).
Causes of Global Warming
This is an issue that requires attention
from everyone. The impacts and effects experienced by the world have majorly
been contributed by industrialization and progress of humankind since the past
few years. Changes in climatic conditions and hence global warming can result
from natural and artificial situations.
Some of the factors leading to an upswing in temperature are volcanic
emissions and solar activity. Sunspots have been a major catalyst towards this
upsurge, thereby affecting the time the earth takes to cool. The sun is the major source of energy to the
earth which in turn absorbs 70% of the solar flux. This increases atmospheric,
land, and oceans temperatures which enhances warming. Orbital forcing is another
cause of global warming. It is associated with slow tilting of the earth’s
axis. This further enriches greenhouse effect which is a critical factor to the
rise in temperature. This effect is caused by infrared radiations from the
atmosphere, and it has facilitated the earth’s temperature by 24%. Other
contributors are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and ozone. The other
player to temperature rise is solar variation. It changes the amount of radiant
energy discharged by the sun and associates to alterations in climate and heat.
Industrialization and human activities are other main players. Industrial
development facilitates the concentration of Co2 and methane. Human acts
include deforestation and burning of fuels which enhances the release of these
gases (Haldar, 2011, p. 10).
Human Vulnerability and Challenge
of Global Warming
The whole humanity is affected subject
to status and level of technological expansion. Civilizations with enriched
technological advancements become less reliant on the nature and are likely to
cope to climate change than those with less high-tech progress. Poorer nations
will experience the effects of climate change more in comparison to the richer
ones. Also, wealthier countries are more
exposed to weather and climatic dangers than poorer countries (Pittock, 2009, p. 15). There are a number of
tests facing the problem of climate change and increase in atmospheric heat.
One, the current global patterns in power supply and intake are unsustainable
in terms of the environment, economic, and socially. Securing the stream of
reliable, clean and affordable energy is a major difficulty encountered by many
countries! This has a direct influence in terms of the temperature rise and
climate change. Also, effecting a quick transformation of low carbon and
environmentally friendly systems is a key problem to major countries around the
world. Averting disastrous and unalterable damage to the global climate
eventually needs a chief de-carbonization of the world energy sources. This
will have a positive impact in tackling the problem of global warming (Houghton, 2009, p. 381).
Solutions and Recommendations
The wide consensus among climate
scientists that global temperatures will proceed to rise has led some
countries, states, institutions, and individuals to implement responses. The
solutions can be categorized from mitigation of the causes and effects to the
varying of the global environment, and geo-engineering to divert global
warming. Carbon capture and storage is one on the main preventive measure. This
is further enhanced by formulation of reports and plans by responsible bodies.
It is then accomplished through drops in the rate of anthropogenic greenhouse
gas discharge. Another solution is adaptation. It incorporates such measures as
water conservation, water rationing, and adaptive agricultural practices, among
other steps. Geo-engineering is another positive step. It entails cautious
adjustment of Earth’s natural environment to suit human desires. A good example
is greenhouse gas remediation. Research should be carried all over the world on
the matter of global warming and some approaches should be formulated to assist
in solving the situation. Also, policy statements, debates and conferences
should be planned to oversee the matter.
This will avail an opportunity for scientific advice that is pertinent
in answering the situation (Haldar, 2011, p. 63).
Conclusion
Climate change is with the world and is anticipated
to increase due to the ongoing emission of greenhouse gases as a result of the
factors discussed above. This has amplified
the level of concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which will take
a considerable time to lower its presence. There is the necessity of urgent actions
to thwart this situation as the upsurge in greenhouse gases has already had its
impacts on climate and natural ecosystem. Every stakeholder from the private to
the public sectors should play an integral part in reducing these impacts.
References
Casper, J. K. (2010). Changing Ecosystems: Effects of
Global Warming. New York: Infobase Publishing.
Change, C. o. (2008). Climate Change Science: An Analysis
of Some Key Questions. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.
Haldar, I. (2011). Global Warming: The Causes and
Consequences. Delhi: Mind Melodies.
Houghton, J. (2009). Global Warming: The Complete
Briefing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ibarrarán, M. E. (2009). Distributional Impacts of Climate
Change and Disasters: Concepts and Cases. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar
Publishing.
Maslin, M. (2008). Global Warming: A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pittock, A. (2009). Climate Change: The Science, Impacts
and Solutions. Canbera: Csiro Publishing.
