Global Warming Essay

Global warming is the heightening of temperature all over

the world. According to NASA, global warming is one of the
causes of “The Greenhouse Effect” which is the idea that the
radiation, sent from Earth, to space is being trapped by the
atmosphere.
Often times, climate change is confused with global
warming. However, they are not the same. Global warming and
climate change are, in fact, very different. Global warming
refers to the heightening of temperature, on a global scale.
Climate change refers to the changing of the climate over an
extension of time. One of the main concerns about global
warming is the theory that it is linked to severe weather like
hurricanes and droughts. This theory is true. Due to higher levels
of heat, the atmosphere can hold more water vapor. One
common question people ask is “If global warming is real, why
are the winters so harsh?” and this is a good question, but it only
applies to certain small areas. Despite these cold winters in
specific regions, the ten warmest years in history have all
occurred since 1997. According to a report by the NOAA,
recent decades have been the hottest since 1000 AD. They also
claim that the increased heat we’ve caused between the 19th
century and now, has not been known since approximately one
thousand years ago.
 Another common question is “does global warming have
anything to do with rising sea levels?” and the NOAA seems to
have the answer. They claim that the sea level is 2.6 inches
above the 1993 average, and rises an eighth of an inch per year.
This may not seem like a big deal, but in time these rising sea
levels will contribute to very powerful storm surges that, unlike
before, will be pushed deeper inland. This also creates another
opportunity for disaster, nuisance flooding. The NOAA
estimates that nuisance flooding happens between three hundred
and nine hundred percent more often than it did fifty years ago.
Another issue we should be concerned about is ocean
acidification. Ocean acidification is the overall loss of pH in the
seven seas, which is caused by the overtaking of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere - this is The Greenhouse Effect in a nutshell.
One argument that a handful of people have is that the biggest
cause of The Greenhouse Effect is the raising of cows in mass
numbers for production of dairy products and meat. This is a
valid theory because cows do emit carbon and methane into the
air from the natural gasses they release. Also a majority of the
land we need for other things is used by dairy and the production
of dairy products.
Due to the changing climate another potential threat is
brought into play. The spreading infectious disease poses as a
threat to environment as well. Insect vectors tend to be more
active in higher temperatures, take into consideration,
mosquitoes that thrive in tropical areas. These mosquitoes can
transmit malaria need it to be above 60 degrees at all times, to
finish their cycle of life. The vector-borne disease can also be a
water-vectored disease because the mosquito usually lays it’s
eggs in water filled containers which can be consumed by
humans and moreover result in malaria. Climate change can also
cause diseases not known to certain geographical areas, to be
introduced to these certain areas. For example, malaria had not
been known to East Africa, until the epidemic spread into the
warmer and wetter than usual, highlands. Yet again, there is
another problem. With the increase in heat crops and plants will
grow at an elevated rate, but insect breeding will have become
rampant and will do damage to certain crops like wheat and
soybeans.
One of the ways we can help and save the Earth is by
reducing our carbon footprint, a carbon footprint is the amount
of carbon compounds a particular person or group of people
emit due to the consumption of fossil fuels. We can reduce our
carbon footprint by reducing our use of fossil fuels like oils and
gas. We use an alternative form of transportation to cars like
bikes or walking, you can even carpool with a co-worker or
classmate to reduce the amount of carbon emitted. We can also
switch to renewable sources of energy like biomass,
hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar power.
In conclusion, we have let global warming turn into climate
change, and if we continue to ignore the evidence and the facts,
if we all don’t come together as the human race and do our part
to reverse the effects we have put on the Earth we will dig
ourselves deeper, and covert our home into a wasteland full of
plastic garbage and horrible weather. The Earth gets hotter and
the sea level rises every year, due to this we will have disease
outbreaks, floods, storms, droughts.

Works Cited

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0912931
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=renewable_home
https://cotap.org/reduce-carbon-footprint/