Global Warming- Is It Important?
March 24, 2022
Global warming is a human-induced warming of the earth system caused by increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mainly from human activities such as burning fossil fuels and farming.
How does it affect the environment?
Global warming is causing serious changes to the environment. It is causing rise in sea levels, which is leading to the loss of coastal land. According to CBS news, “Sea levels are rising right now in Florida and the state is spending billions and billions of dollars to fix this problem”.
Climate change also causes changes in precipitation patterns with increased cases of droughts and floods. This could lead to extensive property damage. According to Storm Surge Overview, “Say if there was a hurricane, you could get really bad storm surge that could cause people to lose their homes.” If it isn’t flooding, then it is too dry which leads to the likelihood of intense wildfires.
How does it affect Human health ?
Global warming is also impacting human health, causing an increase in allergies. The warmer the weather, the longer pollen season is, and the worse the air quality, both of which results in more allergy and asthma attacks. The Weather Channel posts daily about the pollen count and the air quality. In addition, after floods or storms, damp buildings may foster mold growth, which has been linked to allergies and lung diseases.
How can we fix it ?
We need to lower the amount of fossil fuels burning, which will lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It will still take time to fix what people have done, but small things like cleaning up the ocean and picking up trash in our environment, will lead to a new start for our planet. According to NRDC “That we could help the earth by powering our homes with renewable energy, reducing water waste, and actually eating the food we buy.” According to BBC News “There are many ways to curb the rise of climate change are to keep fossil fuels in the ground: curb methane emissions, switch to renewable energy, and even plant more trees.” If we start to do these things we can get climate change under control.
What if we do nothing ?
What if we don’t take action? According to the Nature Conservancy ” The global temperatures will rise by 2-4 °C ( 3-7°F) by the end of the century.” This could lead to the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melting, causing sea levels to increase. It could also endanger the wildlife by destroying habitats, which will lead to some animals going extinct. Agricultural output would decrease, leading to global food shortages. Heat waves and drought would come more common. We must face these facts.
Links :
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59205648
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming
https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle
