What is Global warming?
Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth’s climate.
Many people out there still don't believe in the existence of a global warming issue but climatic scientists looking at the data and facts related to current changes on the earth and the oceans agree that the earth is experiencing global warming.
How global warming change the world
Global warming has brought substantial changes especially with respect to climatic changes, life in the ocean and other known changes. It continues to bring about changes in climatic conditions on the earth surface and gradually increasing temperatures which can affect survival and life on the earth and the oceans.
According to an article published by livescience, it says
Scientific consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is that the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 °C over the past 100 years.
the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has occurred over the past 50 years. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have recently predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 °C by the year 2100. Changes resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events.
~ Livescience
Also according to another article by NRDC on global warming, it says
Over the past 50 years, the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts see the trend is accelerating: All but one of the 16 hottest years in NASA’s 134-year record have occurred since 2000.
Scientists agree that the earth’s rising temperatures are fueling longer and hotter heat waves, more frequent droughts, heavier rainfall, and more powerful hurricanes. y. And in 2016, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine announced that it’s now possible to confidently attribute certain weather events, like some heat waves, directly to climate change.
The impacts of global warming are being felt across the globe. Extreme heat waves have caused tens of thousands of deaths around the world in recent years. And in an alarming sign of events to come, Antarctica has been losing about 134 billion metric tons of ice per year since 2002. This rate could speed up if we keep burning fossil fuels at our current pace, some experts say, causing sea levels to rise several meters over the next 50 to 150 years.
~NRDC
So from all the above information, global warming can bring about great and severe changes on the earth which include rising sea levels, increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events. In the last decades, the world has recorded some pretty harsh and severe storms, floods and climatic changes. Just the other day, i watched BBC's report on the elevation of temperatures in Japan and how hot the atmosphere was and the number of people that suffered from heat strokes related to the rising temperatures. Very severe storms and floods have been recorded in different parts of the world. So many people argue the causes of this event but the possibility of global warming being the spearhead is not ruled out.
Statistics show that there has been an increase in the earth's temperature in the last decade which means global warming levels have kind of increased and within this period too, the earth is witnessing dramatic changes and natural disasters like harsh climates, storms, floods, melting of ice caps in the oceans, gross death of aquatic species etc.
Can all these just be a coincidence? Or is global warming slowly changing the world? It is still debatable and right now it is difficult to draw any conclusions but the occurrence of global warming on the earth is undeniable.
Effects of global warming
Global warming influences environmental, biological and social systems. Below are a few effects of global warming:
- Disruption of natural habitats
Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and Alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction
Also, high levels of atmospheric carbondioxide has led to an increase in dissolved carbondioxide in the oceans leading to their acidity. Ocean acidity poses a threat to aquatic life and preservation of some species.
2 .Extreme weather conditions
Increased temperatures and increased levels of carbondioxide in the atmosphere generate heat waves that can affect survival on the earth for most terrestrials on the earth. There will be massive loss of life and increased number of deaths of animals, plants and humans related to extreme weather conditions.
3 .Landslides and increased volcanic activities
Due to ice melting and deglaciation caused by global warming, land masses will no longer be depressed by the weight of ice. This will lead to landslides and increased seismic and colcanic activities.
4 .Threat to human settlement
In low-lying areas and small islands, inundation as a result of a rise in sea level threatens vital infrastructure and settlement leading to issues of homelessness in countries in low-lying areas like Bangladesh.
5 .Reduced crop productivity
Crop productivity will be negatively affected by global warming especially in low lattitude countries due to harsh climatic conditions like storms, floods and increased temperatures that will lead to the death and destruction of crops.
6 .Disease outbreaks
Allergies, asthma, and infectious disease outbreaks will become more common due to increased growth of pollen-producing ragweed , higher levels of air pollution , and the spread of conditions favorable to pathogens and mosquitoes.
7 .Water shortages and Fire outbreaks
Melting glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages and increase the risk of wildfires in the American West.
Main cause and reason for global warming
The main cause of global warming is the accumulation of carbondioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
These gases in the atmosphere absorb sunlight and solar radiation that has bounced off the earth’s surface. In a normal scenario, this radiation is supposed to escape into space but because these gases have the ability to remain in the atmosphere for years and so they trap the heat and radiation and thus causes the planet to get hotter and heat up. This phenomenon of greenhouse gases is known as the greenhouse effect.
"The greenhouse effect is the process by which
absorption and emission of infrared radiation by gases in a planet's atmosphere warm its lower atmosphere and surface."(Wikipedia)
What will happened after 10 years for global warming?
If serious measures are not taken to address the issue of global warming then after 10years we will be experiencing great increase in sea levels, increased atmospheric temperatures of about 7-10°C, severe droughts and storms, death of aquatic and terrestrial species, increased poverty all over the world, underdevelopment, increased landslides and volcanic activities, homelessness and extreme heat, loss of life etc
I sincerely hope that we can all come together and put in necessary efforts to prevent this because it will be a big blow to humanity and the world should we let all these happen and it might take a long time to recover from such events.
How can we solve the issue.
Many mitigating actions against global warming have been provided and adapted my international organisations for climate change. They are currently being implored in many countries across the globe. Most of the actions are directed towards **reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or Sinking (using up) greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- The use of low-carbon energy technologies, such as renewable energy, nuclear energy, and carbon capture and storage.
2 . Promoting reforestation as a strategy to promote carbondioxide sinking in the atmosphere and discouraging deforestation by all means.
3 . Mankind has to plan necessary adaptation strategies to global warming that will ensure survival even if all efforts at preventing it come to nought.
4 . Climate engineering is also an advanced procedure that can be implored to combat this issue too.
It is the deliberate modification of the climate inresponse to global warming and involves the control of solar radiation and emission of carbondioxide.
5 . Automobile companies should be cautioned to produce cars that emits less gas.
6 . Waste recycling should be encouraged in the big cities and suburbs.
7 . A transition from fossil fuel to clean power should be encouraged across the globe because it is vital in building healthy and secure communities.
My opinion on global warming
Global warming is a serious issue which must be addressed with utmost concern and seriousness. It is a serious problem that will afgect us and future generations and it takes determination and joined efforts from the state and public to solve or better still reduce the problem. All hands are needed on deck if we must solve this problem. From homes, to companies and to the entire society.
For every tree that you put down, plant 5 more. Conserve energy and avoid activities that lead to the emission of gases to the atmosphere. Resort to clean sources of power and engage more into waste recycling.
Everyone can stand up in this fight against global warming and we can finally put it under control. It is a problem that we can solve if we can all work together as one in the fight. Everyone has a part to play, you have a part to play and so do I.
So let us say no to global warming for us and for the future generationsto come.
** LET'S STOP GLOBAL WARMING AND MY TAKE IS LET'S ALL GO GREEN.**
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