Global warming is a major problem but people can make a difference in the things we do. We could reduce the amount of green house gasses. These green house gasses trap energy into the atmosphere and make the earth warmer. Driving a car or using electricity will not be stopped so if people could use less energy by car pooling. For example 4 people can ride together than 4 cars to work. We could use electricity by turning of lights, the TV. And computer when not needed. You can save energy by riding a bike or walking instead of using a car. Also letting people know about global warming which then they can be educated to save energy. Planting trees is a way of reducing greenhouse gasses. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a green house gas, from the air. Recycling cans bottles, plastic bags and newspapers. If you send less rubbish to the landfill, it then can help to save natural resources like trees, oil and elements such as aluminum. If you start to buy products which doesn’t use as much energy will help global warming. Buying recycled products instead of non-recyclable products will also help. The less energy we use, the better. Solar energy which the sun produces can be used to heat homes, buildings, water and to make electricity. Cars cause pollution and release a lot of greenhouse gases into the air. There are certain cars that can reduce the amount of gases by using diesel and unleaded petrol.
The carbon dioxide has increased in the atmosphere. The levels of carbon dioxide have increased 30% since pre- industrial times. Carbon dioxide has increased from burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline in automobiles or coal in a power plant generating electricity. Increased levels of methane in the atmosphere have risen 145% in the past 100 years for example fossil fuel production. The weather has got warmer over the years causing intense droughts, heavier rainfall events and flooding. There is evidence across the United States where there was a drought in the Central Southern United states in 1996. Ice has melted all over the planet. All glaciers in the glacier national park could be gone by 2030 if present warming continues. The Antarctic Peninsula has seen an increase in temperatures of 5 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 50 years. Researchers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre shows that the Greenland’s ice sheet, about 8% of the earth’s grounded ice is losing ice mass. A study by New Zealand’s doctors said outbreaks of dengue fever, yellow fever in south pacific islands are directly related to global warming.
December 1st to the 11th 1997 more than 160 nations met up in Kyoto Japan to discuss on how they limit greenhouse gases for the developed nations. The outcome of this meeting Kyoto Protocol was agreed to reduce there greenhouse gas emissions. The United States agreed to limit this by 7% between 2008 – 2012. The United States signed the Protocol on November 12th 1998. This treaty would commit the United States to reduce the greenhouse gases.
Global warming has 2 effects on sea levels. Rising global temperatures make the sea warmer. As the liquid warms it expands which means it has affected sea levels to rise. The second effect is that increased temperatures will make Antarctica to melt. As the ice warms it melts putting more water into the sea. Loss of the polar ice caps also has an effect on global warming. Ice caps reflect sunlight back into space. If this did not happen there would be a greater absorption of solar radiation, which in turn heats up the planet. The American Geophysical Union show that over 25 years the depth of the polar ice has shrunk by 40%.
One of the greatest dangers from global warming is that the seas and oceans will rise. Water expands when it is heated and there will also be more melted ice from glaciers and ice sheets. Surveys show that 11 cubic miles of ice is melting causing global sea levels to rise.
Global warming in the United Kingdom will get hotter and wetter by 2100 according to new reports. We can also expect more flooding in the future; scientists predict British weather will rapidly get warmer and more unstable.
The absorption of heat by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this absorption warms the atmosphere, in which this turns the heat of the earth’s surface causing the greenhouse effect.
By Jaspreet Johal
