Global Warming can be linked to the area of Air Pollution in geography. Air pollution is caused by emissions of chemical and toxins into the Earth’s atmosphere. Air pollution is very harmful. It destroys the ozone layer and affects the quality of human life on Earth by causing breathing problems for people, especially those who have asthmatic problems. Acid rain is a result of air pollution. Acid rain occurs when toxins released into the atmosphere by chemical plants form with the clouds. When it rains the water that comes back to the Earth is contaminated and can be destructive. El Niño and La Niña, as they are to do with weather are a meteorological study. Meteorology is research and study of the Earth’s land, sea and air. The El Niño/ La Niña and Global Warming are very relevant to geography because if not properly monitored they can become very harmful to society.
Over the past few decades scientists specialising in meteorological fields have been trying to make a connection between El Niño/La Niña and Global Warming. They have been investigating for many years and have come up with a few hypotheses. The have studied the areas thoroughly but still cannot establish a bond between the two.
As said earlier El Niño was the name South American fishermen gave to Christmas occurrence that caused their fishing waters in the East Pacific Ocean to become hotter than usual and the fishing yields to decrease. The reason for this occurrence was a myth for the natives back then but it is now known why. In regular conditions the trade winds would flow from the lands out to the seas and oceans and would carry with them the surface water of the sea ocean water near the coasts. This enabled upwelling to take place. Upwelling is the name given to the process by which water from the ocean floor rises to the surface with nutrients in it. Fishes and sea animals feed on the nutrients form upwelling. During an El Niño upwelling cannot occur. The wind direction changes and that causes the halt of the process. As they cannot get food the marine animals die. They also die because of the sudden change of habitat. During an El Niño, it rains a lot in the eastern hemisphere because the wind brings it inland. The reason for the warming of the ocean is the inland winds bring with them warm water from the western hemisphere. water from out at sea. El Niños have diverse effects on each of the hemispheres. It causes drought in the western hemisphere and brings rain to places in the eastern hemisphere.
La Niña is the opposite of the El Niño. In Spanish it means the little girl. When there is a La Niña the Eastern Pacific Ocean get colder. Normally the waters are cool because the winds bring the coolness form the western Pacific. During a La Niña the winds get more powerful and bring a lot more cold water with them. Other names for La Niña are El Viejo (The Old Man) or anti-El Niño.
Global Warming is the heating of the Earth. Anthropogenic substances and man-made acts cause this. Global Warming is caused when greenhouse gases are let into the atmosphere. Examples of greenhouse gases are Carbon Dioxides and Nitrous Oxides. They cause the greenhouse effect to occur. The greenhouse effect is the ame given to the process by which the gases allow the sun heat to penetrate through them to the Earth but do not allow the heat to pass back through. This makes the Earth heat. Another example of a greenhouse gas is a CFC (chlorofluorocarbon). It is believed that the Earth’s will temperature increase from between 1.34 and 5.76 degrees Celsius in the next century. Records show that the continental temperatures are get higher. The 1990 – 1999 decade has been the hottest decade ever. Records show that the 1990s has been the warmest decade ever. Scientists all over the world agree that Global Warming is happening. Some scientist think that Global Warming will cause the poles to melt. In turn the whole of eastern U.S.A. will flood and also the Caribbean islands. People will be forced to leave their homes. Global Warming has a major negative impact of the Earth.
La Niña
Scientists do not have ample evidence to confirm that El Niño/ La Niña are related to global warming. So for now the impact of global warming on the El Niño/ La Niña remains a mystery to mankind. As far as scientists are concerned they don’t even know if global warming even has an impact.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- www.encarta.com
- http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/el-nino-story.html
- http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/education/elnino/what_is/index_e.cfm
- www.encyclopedia.com
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