Do you know the term "Global Warming"? I think it is very popular. I will explain further what global warming is, its causes, its effects, and its solutions in this article. I do hope it will make you aware of the dangers of global warming to our planet.
What is global warming?
Global warming is an increase of the Earth's average temperature because of increased amounts of greenhouse gasses trapped in our planet. Greenhouse gasses have a good purpose on earth. It is supposed to warm up the planet just like how we use a blanket when we sleep to keep us warm. However, because of the rapid development of technology, many people have used our Earth's resources unwisely that cause the 'supposed to be good' gasses to cause harm to our planet.
What are the causes of global warming?
Global warming has posed as a great threat to our planet, some causes for global warming are:
Burning fossil fuels:Â fossil fuels emit CO2 to the air that makes the earth warmer. Because of the increase of technology and use of fossil fuels, more CO2 has been emitted in the air. Most people are not doing anything to help our planet, so this is what we are experiencing now.
Agriculture: despite agriculture being good for us, livestock animals such as sheep and cattle produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is a hazardous air pollutant that causes 1 million deaths per year. If not taken care of, the gas gets in the air and makes the earth warmer. Some other things are when farmers use fertilizers for their plants, sometimes plants let out a bit of nitrous oxide that acts like something like a plant's way of burping. Because fertilizers are becoming more widely spread more nitrous oxide is in the air.
Deforestation: as we know, trees play and important part at regulating the climate by absorbing CO2. Sadly, forests are now becoming even more rare with the high demand of land and agriculture. Most of the time, people do not bother to plant new trees for the environment.
Poor waste management: people usually throw their trash in the trash bin, but sometimes they also litter. Slowly, these piles of trash make the air less enjoyable to breathe in that has caused many arising diseases. One of the ways the trash could pollute our planet is if we throw it in rivers or oceans. Many animals such as us humans need clean water to keep living. Marine animals could also get curious and accidentally eat the plastic, oblivious of its effects.
What the effects of global warming?
Mostly, the effects of global warming are those that are related to climate change. Â Climate change are long term shifts of temperature and weather changes. At first, these shifts were natural and usually caused by the sun's activity or other aspects but ever since the 1800's humans have been the main cause of climate change. Until now, that fact still stands more than ever with the increase of CO2 being released in the air. Therefore, the effects of climate change are as follows.
Melting glaciers: melting glacier's effects for the planet are that there will be less water consumption for the population. Fresh waters will also become rarer since glaciers store about three quarters of the world's fresh water. Melting glaciers could also result in extinction of certain animals such as polar bears, penguins and much more.
Rising sea levels: caused by melting ice and ocean warming, sea levels has started to rise. This threatens low laying regions with the risk of it being down deep in the sea soon. As global temperatures start to increase, the oceans absorb heat that causes the waters to take up more space. This is also why people keep joking that Jakarta will one day sink.
Hotter temperatures: as greenhouse gases increase, so too would the temperature because greenhouse gases job is to warm the planet up. In today's time, earth has warmed up by 1.1 degrees Celsius (2.0 degrees Fahrenheit). It might not seem like a big problem but lots of problems have arisen because of it. It includes health risks, ocean warming, sea level rising and much more.
