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. Global Warming is believed to have started in 1975 caused by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. I can’t believe it’s been about 41 years since global warming started and we are only paying attention to it now.
The whole world is affected by climate change but the most affected areas of the world would be Arctic, the Alps, Washington d.c, the great barrier reefs and so many more places. If we don’t take action now there could be many more problems in the future for example cities going underwater.
Scientist have predicted that in 2100 the temperature will have increased from 1.4 to 5.8! Many people already know that the sea level is rising and the polar icecaps are melting but there is a lot more than people know. For example, warming modifies rainfall patterns, amplifies coastal erosion, lengthens the growing season in some regions, melts ice caps and glaciers, and alters the ranges of some infectious diseases. Some of these changes are already occurring.
Did you know that If ice disappears from one part of the spinning Earth and resettled elsewhere as water, the planet shifts on its axis toward the place where it lost mass.
Global warming is caused by a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. A greenhouse is good for growing things because it traps heat inside and stays hotter than the atmosphere around it.Earth’s atmosphere behaves like a gigantic greenhouse, though it traps heat a different way. Gases high in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane, behave like a giant piece of curved glass wrapped right round the planet. The Sun’s rays (mostly visible light and short-wavelength, high-energy ultraviolet radiation) pass straight through this greenhouse gas and warm up Earth.
The warming planet gives off heat energy (longer wavelength infrared radiation), which radiates out toward space. Some of this outgoing radiation does not pass through the atmosphere, but is reflected back down to Earth, effectively trapping heat and keeping the planet about 33 degrees hotter than it would otherwise be. This is called the natural greenhouse effect and it’s a good thing. Without it, Earth would be much too cold to support the huge diversity of life that it does.
To reduce the impact of climate change, we need to reduce global warming. That means producing fewer carbon dioxide emissions and it might mean using less energy or using it more efficiently, doing the same things with less energy or better technology.
The real problem is that the global trends are working against us. Developing countries like India and China are becoming more rich as people there escape from poverty. More people are buying cars and aspiring to the same kind of lifestyle that people enjoy in the United States and Europe. With global energy and fossil-fuel use still increasing, climate change seems almost unavoidable. That doesn’t mean we should give up trying to stop it.