Global warming is caused by the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, which trap heat inside the planet and keep it from escaping into outer space. Imagine the globe is like a parked car sitting in the sun with all the windows rolled up. The outside of the car may be hot, but the inside of the car will be so hot that belt buckles will burn one's skin if touched. Now if the car's windows were rolled down and the inside heat allowed to escape, the inside of the car would not be nearly as hot. This is essentially what is happening to the planet. Because the atmosphere is being polluted by greenhouse gasses, it is not allowing heat to escape and so the planet is warming as a result. What causes greenhouse gasses? The primary cause is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Every car and bus going down the road releases carbon dioxide, which pollutes the air and contributes to the greenhouse effect. As NASA predicts, the effects of this pollution will be that the "Earth will become warmer ... [and] warmer conditions will probably lead to more evaporation and precipitation overall" and glaciers will melt and the sea level rise (NASA). If the sea level rises, much of life on the planet could be threatened -- especially coastal regions that are most susceptible. This paper will discuss the causes and effects of global warming and what humans can do to reverse the trend.
The issue of global warming is modern one: its roots are in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution was a tremendous time in human history when the development of technology proceeded at such a rapid pace that it transformed the nature of the way in which the world interacts:
One of the main ways in which the Revolution impacted the Earth, however, was in the aspect of drilling for oil, which would then be refined into gas or used in the manufacturing of various commercial products. All of this activity has taken a toll on the planet -- especially as oil is a
fossil fuel that, when burned, gives off toxic carbon dioxide that can be lethal to the planet if produced in too great of quantities (as is now the case with our current "car" economy).
Burning fossil fuels is not the only way in which carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere, however. As Derek Markham of Planet Save notes, "methane emissions from
animals,
agriculture such as rice paddies, and from Arctic seabeds" is another cause. This means that the overabundance of livestock production in parts of the world is contributing to the imbalance of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere which are slowly causing the Earth to overheat. Deforestation and chemical fertilizers are other causes of global warming (Markham). Each of these variables plays a part in adding to the contagion and pollution that adversely impact the Earth's atmosphere and increase the rate at which the planet warms.
The effects of this increased rate of warming are discernible in a number of ways: first, there is the impact on the polar ice caps, which are being reduced in size -- an indication of melting. As the ice caps melt, the sea level rises, and coastal regions become endangered. The impact of warming on the sea life is discernible as well, with the biological life of aquatic regions being destroyed -- although the
biology of aquatic regions is also killed by the dumping of toxic chemicals into the waterways, oil leaks, and other manmade events. Essentially, the harmful and disruptive practices of manufacturers and chemical plants are dangerous for the
environment as they contaminate waterways and atmospheric conditions, both…
