Recently, there have been many problems with hurricanes, heat waves, and floods. What could perchance be causing all of this? One of the main reasons there has been so many natural disasters and complications is global warming. Global warming is the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans due to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect consumes greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere which causes the heating of the earth and very high temperatures and causes Arctic ice to melt. Mainly, online sources were used. Due to a lot of researching I've done, I came to a conclusion and found out that the main solution to reducing global warming is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released in the air but first, let me explain what global warming is, the history of global warming, what population is global warming affecting, and what is being done to prevent global warming.
The effects of global warming create a growing danger for the ecosystem we live in by damaging animals, coastlines, habitats, and much more. Global warming is the heating of the earth caused by the “greenhouse effect”. The greenhouse effect is the warming that happens when certain gases in the earth’s atmosphere trap heat. Some of these gases occur in nature. For example, water vapor, carbon-dioxide, and methane. Other gases are solely human-made such as the gases emitted from industrial factories. These gases let in light but keep heat from breaking out, like the glass walls of a greenhouse. First, sunlight radiates onto the surface of the earth where it is absorbed. After the sunlight is absorbed it is then emitted as heat back into the atmosphere. The Earth is enclosed by a covering of air called the atmosphere. The atmosphere is made up of various gases, such as Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, and Carbon dioxide. These gases act as a protective shield for the Earth and allow life to exist. Without it, everyone would be burned by the intense heat of the sun during the day or frozen by the very low temperatures at night. In the atmosphere, greenhouse gases traps some of this heat. The more greenhouse gases there are in the atmosphere the more heat gets trapped which causes the earth to heat up ("Global Warming").
Global warming and climate change has always existed. In order for global warming to occur, mankind must produce surplus gases that cause global warming. The problem here was not that the earth already had a very low amount of global warming, but that man-kind contributed to global warming. We the people made global warming a difficulty, and it is continuing to worsen. Around the second half of the 20th century, global warming started to catch the town's interest. Dr. James Hansen, the director of the NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was the first to warn everyone about climate change in the 1980s with news papers. In 1997, the trouble of global warming, or to be more exact, the problem of human endeavor into this natural process, was addressed officially when the world's largest industrialized countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as an effort to stop the rapid progression of the global warming ("GISS Surface Temperature Analysis").
Global warming appears to be affecting the people who are least contributing to global warming and who are least able to control the properties of global warming. The poor and needy for example. Since weather patterns have changed, farming is much more difficult to do. For example, global warming is drying up farming area in which crops and planting methods that farmers have been depending on for years are failing. Also, global warming causes sea water levels to ascend higher which can have a huge effect on clean water supplies. For example, in Bangladesh water is filling into wells, making the water unhealthy for drinking and medical aid ("How Global Warming Affects the Poor").
Since 1997, everyone knew about global warming. The government concluded that the world should take action and do something about global warming; this is where the Kyoto Protocol took affect. During 1997, in Kyoto Japan, the Kyoto protocol was discussed. Then on February 16, 2005 the Kyoto Protocol came into power. The Kyoto Protocol is a global legal contract in which industrialized countries agree to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases. They were required to reduce by 5.2% compared to the year 1990. The overall goal of the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce the production of five main greenhouse gases which are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs ("Kyoto Protocol"). Separate from the global understanding the Kyoto Protocol was introduced in the United States. This law in the U.S is called the Clean Air Act which was enacted by Congress in 1990. The Clean Air Act is a law that forces companies to change what type of gases and ingredients they use in their products in order to reduce air pollution ("Summary of the Clean Air Act"). There are also many organizations and companies who try to help out with reducing global warming such as Ben and Jerry`s Ice Cream company. Since 1999 this company has been working with scientist in order to create hydro-carbon freezers that use sound waves to cool ice cream which is safer for the environment ("Global Warming").
The United States burns coal to produce electricity. This releases large amounts of carbon-dioxide into the air contributing to the greenhouse effect. One way to reduce global warming today is producing your own energy using solar, wind or hydro-power. This way you can reduce the burning of coal. Another way to reduce global warming is recycling. If people recycled more frequently, less trash would be sent to the dumps to be burned which will help reduce global warming even if it's just a tiny portion. Furthermore, some products like hairspray or air fresheners contain a caution label that contain harmful gases. If people looked out for these labels and reduced the use of the products, he or she can help reduce global warming.
All in all, to prevent global warming, everyone must be dedicated. We all live under one atmosphere. If we constantly produce greenhouse gases our ozone layer will be destroyed and we will all die.
References
GISS Surface Temperature Analysis . (n.d.). National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Retrieved from http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/
Global Warming. (n.d.). National Geographic. Retrieved from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/?source=NavEnvGlobal How Global Warming Affects the Poor. (n.d.). World Vision. Retrieved from http://www.worldvision.ca/ContentArchives/content-stories/Pages/HowGlobalWarmingAffectsthePoor.aspx Climate Change and the Oceans. (n.d.). New England Aquarium. Retrieved from http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/climate_change/climate_change_and_the_oceans.php Kyoto Protocol. (n.d.). United Nations. Retrieved from http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php Summary of the Clean Air Act. (n.d.). United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/caa.html
Global Warming. (n.d.). Ben & Jerry`s. Retrieved from
http://www.benjerry.com/activism/environmental/global-warming/
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