*NOTE* I wrote this in seventh grade. Some of this information may be incorrect, extremely biased or politically wrong. I strongly encourage you to find other sources of information about Global warming, and the situation not just this.
Global Warming Essay Name: ****** *** Assignment # 2 Date: 11/06/** Period ** Science
Global Warming? When you ask people what Global Warming is all about most will just say, Its the planet warming up. But its much more than that. Global Warming can cause serious environmental damage and it will if it is not stopped before it is too late. Its real. Its here. And we have to find a way to stop it.
About 10 years ago, approximately 100 countries sent representatives to Kyoto, Japan to talk about Global Warming. After the discussion, all the representatives came up with a treaty that all of their countries would try to lessen the amount of fossil fuels burned. They also agreed in 20 years they would meet again. They called it the Kyoto treaty. So what? Thats good. But the United States of America wouldnt agree to sign the treaty especially under the situation where the United States contains only 5% of the worlds population, yet it contributes to roughly 25% of the worlds carbon dioxide production annually! This is definitely not good.
Why is carbon dioxide such a big deal with Global Warming anyway? Well, lets start with the so-called Greenhouse effect. We all probably knew the reason why Greenhouse effect is called is because certain gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, etc) in the earth atmosphere trap energy from the sun, causing temperature rising in earth atmosphere, much like a greenhouse. This is not a bad thing because without these gases heat would escape from the earth, and the whole world would be freezing and we would all die. Scientists found out that carbon dioxide is the major contributor to the Greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the material that is able to reflect some of the infrared radiation received from the sun back to earth atmosphere. The problem is that with more and more fossil fuels burnt over time more heat/energy is produced, which generates more and more carbon dioxide into our Earths atmosphere. People driving cars and burning natural gas are examples of how greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide can be generated by human activities, and how we are polluting our delicate atmosphere and environment everyday. Thus, with more and more greenhouse gases generated in the earth atmosphere more and more heat is radiated back toward Earth atmosphere, causing rise in temperature in the earths atmosphere and eventually causing Global Warming.
Global Warming can have humongous amount of bad consequences and it can causes numerous environmental disasters. First, the warmer water caused by the Global Warming effect heats up the oceans, resulting in much stronger sea currents, which can greatly increase wind velocity. Rising sea currents and wind velocity together can create much larger storms like Hurricane Katrina, the biggest hurricane ever recorded in the United States history. Often time people dont know that human activities could have an enormous impact on Earths geological system. Scientific research conducted around the world also suggests that Global Warming can result in the destruction of many glaciers. 40% of the worlds population gets their drinking water from nearby and far-away glaciers. Due to Global Warming, all glaciers will melt at an increasingly quicker rate than anytime before, which will cause all the people who receive drinking water from glaciers to be dehydrated, and those areas will have extreme water shortages.
The temperature on Earth has been relatively constant for the last 8 Ice Ages. Scientists discovered this by conducting experiments in which they drilled holes in the ice located in the Arctic and Antarctic area like core samples on trees. Besides, the ice at the North and South poles has been recording the earth atmosphere for millions of years. When the ice fell as snow, it trapped little bubbles of air. The air is a record of what gases were abundant when ice fell, and what gases were not. So far, the 10 hottest days ever recorded were all in the last 14 years, the hottest year was 2005! In 2005 many states in the North American Southwest region set all-time temperature records. At the same year a heat wave in Europe killed about 35,000 people. In contrast, several cities in India received 37 inches of rain in 24 hours in 2005 too! We saw how dangerous and unpredictable Global Warming can cause in different regions of the earth.
Theres more about Global warming. Global Warming can relocate precipitation, causing many droughts, and at the same time initiating numerous floods around the world. Melting glaciers also causes more problems. All the fresh water melting off of Antarctica, Greenland and other parts the Arctic will put lots of fresh water into the ocean. Why does this melting ice matter? This is because that there is an ocean conveyor, a series of rivers in the ocean that loop around in a circle. The most well-known ocean conveyor is the Gulf Stream. Most of Europe is heated be the evaporating waters of the warm waters of the Guild stream, and cools down when it gets near the Arctic. As the water cols, it becomes denser, with more salt in it, then falls the bottom of the ocean and flows somewhere else. But the huge deposits of freshwater form the melting glaciers will make the dense waters at the bottom of the ocean become lighter, and then the water will rise and meet with the warm waters. This will stop the warm current, thus stopping the ocean conveyor. Now without the Gulf Stream heating up Europe, Europe would fall into another Ice Age.
Global Warming can also cause several species to come to extinction. Many species count on a certain time for their youth to hatch in to get a certain food that is plentiful at that time. Because of Global Warming, the food might be plentiful much later or sooner because of the species they count on might think its a different season. Polar bears might also come to extinction. Polar bears live on the ice in the arctic and eat seals. If the ice is melt because of Global Warming Polar bears would have to look for ice to sleep and rest on. And they have to keep swimming in water, and eventually they would drown in water after a few-hours of endless swimming. No matter what anyone else says otherwise, Global Warming is real, and if we werent to stop it we would be putting ourselves in danger.
Global Warming could be slowed down if we try to make new cars that are more fuel efficient, but people would rather not buy hybrids with maybe 100 miles to the gallon because they are too expensive even if they can afford it but many people dont want to bother with it. Some people drive hummers a lot, when only get 5 miles to the gallon! Oil companies are still going strong because they arent taxed at all or are taxed very lowly! The oil companies are also trying to put down other energy businesses such as nuclear energy hydraulic energy, wind energy, and solar energy, and research on hydrogen fuel cells. The government has to say we cant help the environment too much or the economy will be damaged. Thats wrong.
The United States Government is lying to its own people. Theyre saying that Global Warming isnt happening. Why? Its because oil companies are the biggest supporter of the current administration, the Bush administration. If the Bush administration were trying to stop Global Warming the oil companies would stop supporting them and the Bush administration would have not be funded. SO when scientists try to tell the government Global Warming is real, the Bush administration simply deletes the evidence.
Though many people know what is happening about global warming, most will just say, well fix it later, or its not a big problem. In fact, we have to stop Global Warming soon or the whole earth will go into another Ice Age very likely. We cant wait any longer. Otherwise, the whole world could be frozen eventually. We need to stop Global Warming right here, and right now. We should turn to solar energy, hydraulic energy, and wind energy for better energy resources instead of burning fossil fuels. We can also use nuclear energy if we find a safe, efficient way to get rid of the waste. People also need to stop driving their cars so much, since scientists believe that driving cars is a major contributor of Global Warming. New type of cars needs to be made with higher fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. People need to stop using so much electricity too. Now Id ask, why is Bush still fighting in Iraq and the Middle East when we have this big crisis, Global Warming on our hands? I say we all take a stand to stop the dangers of Global Warming.
