Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Global Warming Essay In this entire article I will be discussing global warming, especially its effects on glaciers and on environment. Before discussing the effects of global warming it is important to understand what actually global warming is? It is defined as an average increase in earth’s temperature due to which the frequency of disasters like droughts floods and earthquake increases which accounts for the accumulation of green house gases in the atmosphere. There are various reasons for global warming and one of the most alarming causes is green house gases which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous and water vapor. In recent years the proportion of these gases has increased massively due to industrialization and modernization. Now a question arises that how industrialization led to this massive increase? And the answer is excessive use of road vehicles which emit loads of carbon dioxide besides this we have cut all the plants by roadside which could take in carbon dioxide. Another reason is intense deforestation, which has further increased the ration of carbon dioxide in air. Also burning of fossils for the purpose of generation of electricity is one of its causes. What are Glaciers? Glaciers are formed by snow which overlap over the period of time forming a thick ice mass. These ice masses with the rise in temperature begins to melt and again forms a fresh layer of snow and this how the glacier gets bigger over time. They have been the largest source of fresh water and reservoirs after oceans. Glaciers are there in each continent of the world. Effects of global warming on Glaciers: In recent years the worrying factor is rapid melting of glacier due to increased temperature as compare to snow which replaces it, however if this continues the glacier will vanish soon. This is one of the serious effects of global warming thus resulting in a change in the mountain environment and which in turn is likely to bring about an intense change in the climatic condition of earth which will further bring change in habitats. Melting of glaciers will considerably increase the water level of seas and oceans because of which small countries are expected to sink and the water will overwhelm on the coastal areas. Like glaciers of national parks are shrinking inch by inch, day by day with the passage of time like all other glaciers around the world due to warm temperature. The change are not sever or harmful on day to day basis but will result in huge and devastating disasters over decades. Besides, glaciers add beauty to the environment and warm temperatures are melting these glaciers and eroding the natural beauty. More than half of the well known glaciers of national park have shrunk while many of the small glaciers of park have disappeared. Antarctica has and will suffer a lot from melting glaciers. Increased temperature in Antarctica region have warmed to 4. 5 degrees Fahrenheit in last few years which is considered as the highest and most rapid increase around the world. Another astonishing fact is the collapse of ice- shelves in Antarctica which had been stable for 20,000 years. Melting of glaciers worldwide has become a hot issue these days and its prevention cost is extensively high and is estimated at 3% of world GDP. Another argument by a Chinese glaciologist zhang wenjing is, glaciers are able to absorb heat during the global warming process and can reverse the effects of global warming. He further added that 20 square million kilometers of world’s glaciers and huge oceans will not let this phenomenon to increase rapidly. However another report claims that Himalaya glaciers are retreating by 10 to 15 meters on yearly basis due to rise in temperature and can have adverse effects on the social, economical and ecological system of its inhabitant as they are the main source of water. Effect on Environment: Effect on climate: Scientists believe that by 2050 the temperature of the globe will heat up within 2 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have developed models to forecast the change in temperature simpler models are able to forecast variation within a region whereas typical models are expected to measure changes across hundreds of thousands of square miles and it has predicted that all the European countries are anticipated to follow a similar climatic projection despite of the fact that each country has unique rainfall, seasonal and snowfall patterns. Furthermore the summers in mid-latitude will become drier. These effects may disrupt the civilization and biosphere. As the temperature increases the oceans will evaporate more yielding more clouds and rainfall. According to an author jonathan wiener of â€Å"The Next One Hundred† every year 500,000 of water rise and fall between sky and ocean and it is believed that about 25,000cubic kilometers will increase as a cause of global warming. The excessive amount of rain is expected to fall in areas where it is not required, subtropical areas are probable to experience heavy rainfall and floods whereas temperate zones will face droughts. On contrary for countries like Canada warmer climate indicate extended growing seasons with comparatively more rainfall which will ensure improved crop production in many areas. However in Western Europe and California snow packs are estimated to melt soon bringing in more rainfall and river water especially in spring season leaving behind a drier weather for crops when required essentially. Birds and Animals: Global warming is likely to affect the length of season, winters will become too short. This will imbalance the entire system and will greatly affect bird and animals as in winter birds get hide and definitely it will further disturb their feeding schedule and time particularly in young birds and the accessibility of food for them. Some animals consider climatic changes as a signal for migration or preparing themselves for other season but global warming will give rise to confusion in animals because of this chance of losing their migratory routes increases. Farmers: The farmer plant seeds according to the season and nature of the crop keeping in mind the desired amount of rain necessary for its production as mentioned earlier that global warming enhances the probability of cyclones, droughts, thunderstorm and other natural disasters which heavily affect the yield production. Moreover, by climatic changes the seasons get affected and so the rainfall because of which it is hard to predict the sowing and harvesting timings of the crop. This will lead to the scarcity of food and will have hazardous effects on living lives and will create panic in the society. Species: Due to global warming species are getting extinct like golden toad and harlequin have vanished and there is a great threat to number of other species to disappear as a result of global warming seeing that for many species cold weather is more conducive, hence global warming is creating trouble for their survival. a number of variation has been observed in animals as they respond significantly to warmer climate. Their behavior pattern shows that they have began to shift their population toward north and higher altitudes. A study was conducted in California on small butterfly and approximately 150 areas were catered, study showed that the number of butterfly decreased in southern region as compared to northern regions which proves that butterfly prefer cooler zones. Increase in Diseases: As of global warming numerous diseases have emerged, they are the product of amplified temperature because bacteria can live better in an elevated temperature and also multiplies easily in favorable conditions like mosquito production have increased which in turn add to malaria disease due to this global warming. Now we can well imagine how dangerous this global warming could be? We are gathered around so many diseases which are nothing but simply an effect of global warming and we are unaware of the fact that our live is also endangered. If it continues to happen the life expectancy will decrease and death rate is estimated to double up to 300,000 deaths per year within 25 years particularly in high altitude regions. Effect on Vegetation: Global warming will also affect the availability of vegetation on the earth surface like tundra vegetation is soon expected to alter to temperate, cold and evergreen forest and woody type of forest will increase as a reason of increased precipitation. Hence there will be a drastic change in the variety of vegetation available in an area and this is expected to bring a change in inhabitant of that area. Effect on marine life: Marine life is very much sensitive to the changes, changes in climate; sea level and length of the seasons stamp an adverse affect on these innocent lives. A survey was conducted to check the responsiveness of marine live to the changes in water level and it was found that many of the marine species tend to disappear or die due to increase in water surface, few of the specie for whom warm water is favorable their population can strike gigantic levels. Most threaten changes are predictable to reflect in coral reefs and they are probable to die off. This melting of polar ice will end up harming many animals. Acidified water: Oceans all around the world absorb carbon dioxide produced by all living organism, burning of fossils and through all other human activities that gather on the bed for the formation of limestone or chalk. It is said that oceans have observed 50% of all carbon dioxide evolved from human activities ever since 1800. Carbon dioxide when combined with water forms a weak acid called carbonic acid and green house gases have said to lower the PH ( acidity) of water by 0. 1to8.2 units on a 14 points scale and it is expected to decline further by 0. 5 by 2100. Increased acidification will have an injurious affects on corals and other marine lives especially ones with calcium carbonate shells, and also in the reproduction of fishes and their food planktons. References. Glaciers Melting and Species Extinction. mht Global warming Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. mht http://www. rpi. edu/~ngok/Global%20Warming/effects. html http://www. sierraclub. org/energy/articles/glacier. asp http://www. effectofglobalwarming. com/ http://www. bloggernews. net/1749