Martinez 1

Rigel Martinez
ENC1101
12/5/15
The Path of Destruction: Global Warming

It seems, as the years go by, the world is entering a dangerous era; where we face high
CO2 emissions due to human activities. Many people say its Earth going through its normal ice
age patterns. But we need to face the truth and recognize the footprints that weve left on our
atmosphere. Climatologists have calculated that between 8,000 years ago and the beginning of
the Industrial Revolution, released an estimated of about 300 billion tons of CO2 into our
atmosphere (Goldstein 12). Most kids, today, think about the effect that climate change will
have on them due to damage done to the greenhouse in our atmosphere. Many parents now think
the world that they will have to inherit to their children. We need a change, or this path of
destruction will be our end.
The world before humans got to settle down and colonize was a world that was much
cleaner and out of harms way from pollution. Colonizing meant: cultivation of the soil, keeping
a herd of animals for food, creating shelter (agriculture). Humans had little effect on the climate
until they began to live permanent settlements about 11,500 years ago, at the dawn of
agriculture (Goldstein 12) Agriculture meant improving tools and using machinery to help the
speed of the process to collect what needed to be farmed/hunted, it also meant improving
settlements with: roads, lighting, and machinery to collect water. From the very beginning, our
early footprints on Earth was causing damage to our atmosphere; however, it wasnt very

Martinez 2

significant. As stated by Goldstein, Climatologists have calculated that between 8,000 years ago
and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, released an estimated of about 300 billion tons of
CO2 into our atmosphere (Goldstein 12). It seems like an enormous amount of CO2 thats been
released between those two time periods; yet, its nothing compared to the amount of CO2 we
have released in the recent years. As these tiny footprints grew as we evolved with new
technology, theyve grown into large footprints that has damaged our atmosphere. For example,
the discovery of natural gas around 500 B.C. by the Chinese, introduced heating systems to heat
salt water causing the salt to separate from the water. They would find places where gas would
seek from the Earths crust, then use bamboo shoots as a pipeline to transport the natural gas
where it was used for saltwater. This discovery was the first attempt of the human race using
natural gases into fuel. Eventually, this leads on to using natural gas as fuel to light houses with
electricity, which was first captivated by the Americans in 1816. By that time, the human
population exploded. Goldstein stated Thus, a population of a few million or tens of millions
grew to 200 million by 2000 years ago and 650 million by 1700 (Goldstein 11). Stating, that by
the time that Americans used fuel to light houses for its people, there was a population of 650
million people more or less worldwide. Imagine, how much fuel has to be spent to light the
houses of millions of Americans. The footprints on the atmosphere grew as we released more
CO2 into our atmosphere.
Adding CO2 to our atmosphere isnt a brilliant idea because carbon dioxide traps solar
radiation, causing the Earth to heat up furthermore. Have you ever heard of the greenhouse
effect? The greenhouse effect is when solar radiation enters our atmosphere, when this radiation
interacts with the greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide), the
radiation is thrown out at every direction, some hit the Earths surface causing heat on the crust.

Martinez 3

Without heat-trapping gases in its atmosphere, Earth would be a frozen, lifeless wasteland
(Goldstein 18). Having these gases are crucial to all the living creatures on Earth. Earths
atmosphere contains mostly nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%). These other
gases are the greenhouse gases (GHG), such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and
methane. The planets atmosphere is merely perfect; it doesnt have too much greenhouse gases
or lacking any. Lets take Mars and Venus into account; Mars is a planet with a slim atmosphere,
therefor, most of its water is frozen in the planets poles. Venus on the other hand is a planet with
a thick atmosphere, its surface temperature is 864 degrees Fahrenheit, making it impossible for
life to exist. We live on a planet with a stable atmosphere where life can strive; although, adding
CO2 into the atmosphere has started to become a problem. The enhanced greenhouse effect
leads to global warming because the additional greenhouse gases reradicate more infrared
radiation and heat back to Earths surface (Goldstein 18). The adding of additional CO2 means
adding more heat-trapping gas into the greenhouse causing the Earth to heat furthermore.
After 40 years since the industrial revolution, scientist came to a conclusion of the threat
we will face with a enhanced greenhouse. In 1896, Swedish scientist, Svante Arrenhen realized
that the burning of fossil fuel could eventually lead to a enhanced atmosphere; he was correct. It
wasnt until the 1980s when the global temperature started to increase. In the 1980's, finally,
the global annual mean temperature curve started to rise. People began to question the theory of
an upcoming new ice age. In the late 1980's the curve began to increase so steeply that the global
warming theory began to win terrain fast (lenntech.com). After this discovery, the world took
notice and the news went worldwide with global warming. Yet, this isnt the only example of
global warming: melting of the Artic sea, animals immigrating and change in their behavior,
oceans are more acidic due to additional CO2, and more intense hurricanes since the 1970s. All

Martinez 4

these examples explains why global warming isnt just a hoax anymore, its a real threat chasing
after the human race and every living species.
All the damage done to our atmosphere cant be reversed, but we still have a chance to
significantly reduce global warming. The picture below, shows a prediction what will happen if
we keep heading the road were on by the year 2030. The map indicates that most major cities
among the coast of the U.S. will be underwater due to increase of sea level and melting of ice
caps. Seattle and Los Angeles being most likely to flood.Its sad to see that this could be the
future. We must act now to stop this and have a world where we can have our cites on land
instead of underwater as if it was Alantis; although some places have started to take action and
help start its role in preventing global warming to worsen. In the coal state of West Virginia, for
instance, the 2009 change sets a goal for the state to acquire 25 percent of all energy from
renewable resources by 2025 (Black 140) Some european countries like Spain, Germany, and
Italy are filled with wind turbines that generates power. We must turn to renewable resources; we
have the technology, why not use it? China is investing money in renewable sources more than
the U.S. and Europe combined. State and regional climate policy will provide models for future
national efforts, achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and prepare for the impacts of
climate change (Black 141). Its good to see that every place around the world is making a step
towards global warming and preparing for the damage thats already been done. Furthermore, it
shouldnt just be governments making changes but ourselves too. People could buy solar panels
for their houses, buy fuel efficent cars (Toyota Prius), and recycle plastic. Most of the plastics we
dump into the trash is burned for power. When getting groceries use paper bags. Throwing away
a plastic Coca-Cola bottle? Why not recycle the bottle, so it could be cleaned and used again. We
need to think green and for the planet in order to change our future. Humans are capable of

Martinez 5

anything, so we are definitely capable of this if we put effort. Dont let Earth die on us, and start
doing as many things as you can to change what lies ahead of us.
The world we see today wasnt the world we
couldve seen 15,000 years ago with the pollution
in our atmosphere; however, understanding and
accepting that Earths climate is changing at a
rate due to human activities can help us reduce
this problem and prepare for it. We all need to make an effort to save the home we live in, instead
of destroying it. Where would we if we did destory our home planet? Our technology isnt far
advanced to maintain humans in space for too long, and even less on another planet. Its hectic
that were leaving the world in this fixture to the next generations; we should try to preserve our
atmosphere to prepare the next future generations to come, and to educate them about how bad
global warming used to be. Its never too late to take action, be aware and help save the human
race and among with every other living creature from a disruptive path that is yet to follow.

Martinez 6

Work Cited
BLACK, B; WEISEL, GJ. Global Warming. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010.
(Historical Guides to Controversial Issues in America). ISBN: 9780313345227.
GOLDSTEIN, N; COOK, KH. Global Warming. New York: Facts on File, Inc, 2009. (Global
Issues). ISBN: 9780816067695.
Lenntech.com. History of greenhouse effect and global warming
Maslin, M., Global Warming, a very short introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004
http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/maps/flood-risk-national