Global Warming Essay

Polar bears are dying, sea level is rising, and average temperature of the earth is increasing. Due to these factors, many islands are being swept away causing catastrophic damage and also different animal and plant species are on the verge of extinction. There is a long and endless debate going on about global warming. Some people say that global warming is a threat to us socially, economically, politically, and immediate actions should be taken to minimize it. Whereas, other people say that global warming is beneficial and is a natural process that is required for the sustainability of life on earth. Hence, in my opinion, global warming is a potential threat that causes harm not only to humans, but also to the planet as a whole. Global warming can be defined as the increase in earth’s average temperature caused by the excessive rise of greenhouse gases since Industrial Revolution stared in 18th century. Greenhouse gases are naturally released from the earth’s surface and are very important for the continuation of different species lives and Earth’s life itself. But, because of high human consumption of natural resources like fossil fuels, the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and ozone are produced in a very high amount. The high amount of these gases in the earth’s atmosphere form a “layer” that does not allow the sunlight to return back to space (Committee on America's Climate Choices et al). This leads the earth to become warmer and warmer.
According to NASA, “The global average surface temperature rose 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.1 to 1.6° F) between 1906 and 2005, and the rate of temperature increase has nearly doubled in the last 50 years.” This makes sense because before the Industrial Revolution started in 1840, the earth’s average temperature was not increasing as rapidly as it is increasing now. But, due to the rapid development of industries during the Industrial Revolution, the use of natural resources also increased. The main sources of energy for the industries were fossil fuels like petroleum products and coal, which are the major sources of carbon dioxide gas emissions. If we see the trend of carbon dioxide emission, it has increased by over 16 times from 1900 to 2008. This clearly explains that there has been a drastic increase in the emission of carbon dioxide after the industrial revolution started. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Greenhouse gases are vital for living beings, without these gases survival is next to impossible. These gases make a layer that trap the heat coming from the sun, and make the planet livable. The mean warming effect of the natural greenhouse gas is about 14 degree Celsius and if there were no greenhouse gases then the temperature would have been as low as -18 degree Celsius (National Climatic Data Center). The main component of greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. The level of carbon dioxide is balanced by forests as they intake carbon dioxide and give out oxygen during photosynthesis, balancing the greenhouse gas. Unfortunately, due to the excessive use of fossil fuels the carbon dioxide percentage has increased. Moreover, as the population has risen significantly to six billion, the need of people has also increased. This increment in the needs of people has led to excessive use of forest resources leading to deforestation. Many studies have been conducted regarding deforestation, and it was found that 34-38 percent of the forest had been cleared in Asia and Africa and approximately 28 percent in Latin America during the last century. Considering deforestation and the Industrial Revolution occurred at the same time, in the last century; both of them have allowed for extreme global to be seen in present days (Janelle et al. 293). Because of the rise in temperature, the glaciers are melting, the amount of ice in the arctic is decreasing, the snow-capped mountains in the Himalayas are becoming

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Global Warming

Global Warming