While CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas – mainly because there is so much of it – it is not the only greenhouse gas we need to worry about. Methane is also a very powerful greenhouse gas, although it has a much shorter lifetime in the atmosphere than CO2. Like CO2, methane comes from both natural and man-made sources. Natural sources include rotting wood and wetlands, while human activities that emit methane include farming and waste deposits. Other greenhouse gases also contribute to man made climate change. They include nitrous oxide (N2O) and several synthetic compounds from industry containing fluorine.
This pie chart shows the percentages of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as given off by each manmade factor.
It shows that power plants create huge amounts of CO2. Whereas transport as a whole only creates 14% of the CO2 given off into the atmosphere by manmade processes.
Effects
The effects of global warming in the United Kingdom will be many and complex. I have summarised a few here:
- Rising sea levels and storms will combine to erode coastlines including some well-known landmarks such as the white cliffs of Dover.
- Coastal flooding is more likely as sea levels rise. Large areas of East Anglia may well be inundated by the sea, with towns like Ely becoming islands again. This will happen if global warming melts the polar icecaps.
- Winter snowfall is likely to become less frequent; ski resorts in Scotland would have to close.
- River floodings like those in Autumn 2000, are likely to become more common.
- Storms like the hurricane that hit southern England in 1987, may become more frequent.
- Summers will be drier and winters will be wetter – increasing the risks of drought and flooding.
- Increase in sea temperature is likely to change and the type of fish in the sea will also change. Cod will disappear to be replaced with a new species.
On the other hand there could also be some beneficial aspects of Global warming for the U.K. Such as:
- Cereal crops, such as wheat and barley, could be grown in the Central Lowlands of Scotland.
- Crops like sunflowers, maize and vineyards will become more common in England.
- Seaside resorts on the coast could become more like the Mediterranean.
So in general, I think that global warming would be catastrophic for the U.K. and it’s residents.
Global warming effects on the world as a whole:
- Temperature rise.
- Due to the global warmth rising, the Ice caps will start to melt – creating more water in the seas, which makes sea levels higher. Plus there will be a decrease in Polar Bear numbers as the bears will have less territory and so will fight and kill each other so that they can have a larger territory again.
- Rising sea levels due to the melting of ice caps.
- Increase of insects because of warmer weather.
- Because of increase of insects there will also be an increase in the diseases that the insects carry. Such as, mosquitoes carry malaria so there would be an increase in malaria.
- Increase in rodents because of warmer weather, therefore increase in rodent carried diseases.
- Natural snow ski resorts may have to close because of melting of snow.
- Deserts expand because of droughts.
- A warm climate is the perfect place for bacteria to breed so more food poisoning is imminent.
- Heat waves.
- Extreme floods and droughts are projected to become more severe as global warming worsens. These extremes may threaten the availability and supply of safe drinking water. Diseases associated with flooding, such as cryptosporidiosis, could affect millions more people every year.
- Hurricanes and extreme weather – mudslides, flooding and blizzards.
- Regional climate stress on agriculture may mean up to 300 million additional victims of malnutrition worldwide each year.
- Extreme weather events, like the abnormal storms and flooding that have devastated many communities across England in recent years, may also become more common.
- The earlier arrival of spring and spring flowers due to warmer temperatures.
- Animal populations may change, as some animals are better adapted to heat and freak weather changes.
- Coral reefs may die, because coral reefs are very sensitive to differences in water temperatures.
- Some low-lying island in the Pacific Ocean will disappear under the sea as will densely populated areas around river deltas such as Bangladesh.
MEDC’s and LEDC’s effects on global warming
The biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are rich, industrialised, countries (or MEDC’s – More economically developed countries,) like the United States of America and those in the European Union. The emissions per person in a rich country are several times greater than the emissions per person in an LEDC – Lower economically developed country. However, as the LEDCs develop and people's standard of living increases, emissions of greenhouse gases are likely to increase greatly. China already has the second highest emissions per person and emissions from India have increased by over 50% since 1990. There is nevertheless far to go before the emissions from developing countries catch up with those from the rich countries.
This graph shows the amount of greenhouse gasses each country emits.
It clearly shows that MEDC’s are the worst emitters of greenhouse gases while LEDC’s only give out small amounts of greenhouse gases. Although with this graph we may have to take into account that the larger the country is the more gases it is likely to produce so this may affect the graph results.
In MEDC’s the effects of global warming will not be as severe as the effects of global warming on a LEDC. This is because MEDC’S are better equipped to deal with droughts, floods and other global warming caused disasters, simply because MEDC’S have more wealth and so can afford to pay for flood repairs and MEDC’S can have food and objects shipped in from other MEDC’S. Whereas LEDC’S do not have enough money to pay for flood-minimising devices or other apparatus that stops global warming effects. Also in LEDC’s if there is an increase in disease carrying insects then the people will not have enough money to pay for treatment for the ill. Furthermore, if there are droughts in LEDC’s then the peoples farmlands will dry up and the people will have to walk a lot further for clean water so they will be encouraged to drink unclean water instead, causing more illness and diseases. Whereas people in MEDC’s will probably not run out of clean water as supplies are usually assured and if the farmland does dry out then foreign food can always be imported.
How is global warming already affecting the world?
Global warming has already started affecting the world in many ways such as;
- Global warming is already melting glaciers in every region of the world, putting millions of people at risk from floods, droughts and lack of drinking water.
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In 2002, the extent of the Arctic Ice was 14% below the average of the last 24 years, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the United States. This was confirmed by NASA research published in the same month.
- A report released by WWF and leading meteorologists shows that human-induced global warming was a key factor in the severity of the 2002 drought in Australia, generally seen as the worst ever.
- North Pacific Salmon populations fell greatly after ocean temperatures in the region soared 6 degrees C (9 degrees F) above normal.
- Food shortages linked to warming seas led to hundreds of thousands of seabird deaths off the coast of California.
- Coral reefs around the world have been severely damaged by unusually warm ocean temperatures. At the current rate of degradation, the entire Great Barrier Reef could be dead within a human lifetime. Destructive fishing practices, pollution, coastal development and climate change are all taking their toll.
- Cities like Chicago, Athens and New Delhi have sweltered under heat waves and seen death tolls rise.
How we contribute to global warming
We all contribute to global warming in our every day lives, – whether it is taking a car to school rather than walking or just simply keeping your house warm in winter by using the central heating and burning fossil fuels. In just one day this is how I, personally contribute to global warming. When I get up in the morning the central heating is already on, our central heating is run on fossil fuels so when it is burnt it releases greenhouse gases. I then get dressed and put on deodorant, which releases damaging gases into the atmosphere. I then have a bowl of cereal; the milk comes from the fridge so if we were to scrap the fridge then many damaging gases would be released into the atmosphere. The milk comes from cows; these cows contribute methane gas to the atmosphere. Then to get to school, I take the bus, which releases damaging gases. At lunchtime I have a packed lunch – probably the fruit in my lunch has been transported from another part of the world by plane, - a plane that contributes plane exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. Then I get the bus back home again which again produces damaging pollution – even more than a petrol car, as it is diesel.
As you can imagine in one day I help create a lot of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels.
How can we slow down the effects of global warming?
To slow down global warming we must reduce the amounts of gas emissions which destroy the ozone layer, causing damage. To do this we first have to make people aware of the problem – this will be much harder to do in LEDC’s as they do not have as many televisions or radios as MEDC’s do. We then have to encourage people to stop burning fossil fuels, and start looking for an alternative – perhaps wind turbines or wave power.
We can do things in our every day lives to help slow global warming and even though they seem very small things they all help. Such as:
- Making our homes and businesses better insulated so that hot air cannot escape.
- Turning down the washing machine to a lower heat.
- Riding a bike to school or work instead of using a car.
- Sharing a car on your way to work or school.
- Catching a bus to places rather than using a car.
- Recycle paper to ensure that trees are not cut down unnecessarily.
- Make sure that furniture you buy has come from managed woodlands.
- Compost organic material in the garden to reduce methane emissions from landfill sites.
- Recycle plastics and glass.
Is global warming in fact part of an ice age?
Certain scientists believe that global warming is not a threat and the planet is essentially cooling off. They argue that the factors causing the phenomenon and the measurements are not fully understood, and that it is impossible to draw any conclusions whether the warming of the earth is a purely natural occurrence. These people, believe that the trend is a false alarm and that it is not a sign of a fore coming global disaster. In addition, Industrial forces argue that human beings can adapt to the changes caused by global warming, but they refuse to mention anything about the environmental impact of climatic changes.
Other opponents to the Global warming theory believe that most changes are due to the energy of the sun fluctuating. Large sunspot activity is thought to be partially responsible for the "Little Ice Age" from 1450 to 1850. This climate change is well documented in history with many impacts on civilization in Europe, including famines. The temperature fluctuation was only about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, some researchers believe that smoke from the burning of tropical forests and grasslands causes a strong cooling force on the climate. This cooling effect could nearly equal the warming power built by greenhouse gases created by the fires.
Furthermore, in the issue regarding rising sea levels, it is important to realize that the elevations of various coastal land areas are rising and sinking due to geological factors. As a result, the ocean levels may not rise as much as we think, as continents may be sinking.
In addition, some researchers believe that global warming is foreshadowing a coming ice age. The last ice age occurred as the Earth's climate was warming. In the Arctic regions, more water would evaporate in summer, and fall onto the land as snow in winter. The winters would not be warm enough to melt all of this snow; as a result icebergs would grow.
My Views and conclusion
I believe that global warming is happening, the evidence is overwhelming. I think this because we produce so many harmful gases and are so wasteful in our energy use, that somewhere the effects must be taking their toll. I also think that some of the heat rise is due to the world coming out of a mini ice age although I do not think that it has caused all of it. There are so many factors to prove that global warming is happening, scientists opposed to the idea are having a hard job of finding anything to disprove it.
The world needs to wake up to the reality of global warming before it is too late. If we do not stop it or slow global warming down then our descendants will have to pay the price for our laziness over the greenhouse effect. I think that we should be concerned about global warming because if we are not concerned then we won’t do anything about it and the effects will be irreversible. There are a number of knock-on effects from global warming, such as; some people are arguing that lack of water through global warming could mean war between different countries. This is only a suggestion as yet, but in the future this suggestion could become very real.
The future looks bleak whilst major polluters, such as the USA are in denial over the effects, which their massive energy consumption is having on the planet. The Kyoto agreement must be adhered to by all countries for mankind to have a future.