Global warming impacts

Is the Maldives disappearing from the earth? It is definitely not a sensation but such disappearances are happening to many island nations around the world. The main cause of these disappearances is “global warming” which is defined as “an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate”1. Controversial debates on causes of global warming are on-going. According to the research conducted by Derek Markham, a famous analyst on climate change, the main causes of global warming may be carbon dioxide emissions from burning plants and gasoline, deforestation and increased use of chemical fertilizers2. However, even if some academics disagree about the opinions, effects of global warming are huge, world-wide, and measurable. In fact, global warming has a series of serious impacts on human, animals and environment. The ice melting is raising the sea level, natural disasters threaten thousands of lives and human health is also affected by global warming directly.

The first impact of global warming is on the polar ice cap. With the increasing temperature, massive ice sheets from glaciers and ice caps melt at a high pace, causing some dangerous consequences on the sea level, marine plants and animals. In fact, global sea levels have increased significantly due to the melting of two massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. According to a recent study conducted by a group of researchers led by Alex Gardener, Professor of Geography at Clark University, the world's glaciers lost 260 gigatons of water each year between 2003 and 2009, making these rivers of ice responsible for almost a third of sea level rise during that time3. In addition, corals at the bottom of the ocean cannot get enough sunlight for their photosynthesis due to the rising of sea level. Hence, their quality deteriorates and fish that depend on these corals for food will not be able to survive. Finally, ice melting also threatens the life of