From watching the movie, The Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore tells us that global warming will produce more floods due to increases and precipitation extremes. Al Gore also went over such temperatures may lead to the flooding of more than two million square miles of coastal lands, displacing millions of people in Bangladesh, Egypt, China, Indonesia, and many states in the U.S. He had also illustrated that the warmer the planet gets, the warmer the Atlantic Ocean gets, hence bringing moister ocean air, which is the fuel of the hurricanes. This is why some people fear climate change because it will worsen the hurricanes very badly, and putting a huge impact into our environment. Due to global warming, the deadliest hurricanes during the period 1990 and 2004 almost doubled since the 70’s and 80’s (NOAA). As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Administrator D. James Baker says, “Our climate is warming at a faster rate than ever before recorded. Ignoring climate change and the most recent warming patterns could be costly to the nation. Small changes in global temperatures can lead to more extreme weather events including, droughts, floods and hurricanes” (NOAA). Al Gore also showed us countries that will be getting the flooding and countries that will be getting the heat wave (drought). Heat waves in August, 2003 caused 35,000 deaths in Europe, 15,000 in France alone. In a statement several years ago by Dr. Thomas Karl at an Ozone Action roundtable, said, “High temperatures are likely to become more extreme, and because night temperatures will increase by at least as much as daytime temperatures, heat waves should become more serious (Ozone Action Roundtable). World Meteorological Organization Secretary General Godwin Obasi says, “In 15 U.S. mega-cities, deaths from heatstroke during an average summer have risen significantly in the last decade. They have now reached about 1500. But our projection is that by 2020 there could be 3000-4000 deaths in the U.S. alone” And since the heat waves will have a big impact, more severe heat waves will lead to many usage of air-conditioning, which will increase the risk of blackouts. In a CNN.com article on July 1, 2000, “Heat Waves Likely To Bring More Rolling Blackouts”, it was reported that U.S. consumption of electricity has risen 35% during the past decade, while newly generated electric power has risen by only 18%. "During the last several summers (as of July, 2000) utilities in some parts of the country have been stretched to the limit," says Energy Secretary Bill Richardson ).
Global warming is also cause of the floodings, due to disappearing glaciers. Glaciers are melting on six continents as to what Al Gore had said in the film, Inconvenient Truth. The Bering Glacier, North America’s largest glacier, has lost 7 miles of its length, when losing 20-25% of the glacier. The melting is accelerating. The Lewis Glacier on Mt. Kenya (In Kenya) has lost 40% of its mass during the period 1963-1987 or at a much faster clip than during 1899-1963 (Hastenrath and Kruss). Disappearing glaciers are the main cause of many floods in numerous countries. And at this rate, many countries down the road will be flooded as to what Al Gore had said. Disappearing glaciers can have a vital harm to the environment, such as rising sea levels. For example, rising sea levels would threaten weak coastal populations; warmer temperatures mean that malaria-carrying mosquitoes can spread out to higher-altitude towns (Bradley).
Now this is enough talking about the bad things that can happen to the atmosphere if humans change it. Now I will illustrate how we need those causes (that cause global warming) to our lives.
Power Plant, also known as a Power Station, is a place for the production of electric power; the power that the whole world needs in order to basically live. It provides about 17% of the world’s electricity (Brain). If we need electricity, we need Power Plants. In order for to travel by train, make food, watch television, or any sort of thing we need electricity. If there is no electricity or limited amount of electricity it can really affect our economy and our environment. To imagine yourself without electricity is being in the same shoes as an Amish person. It is very difficult to live with no or limited electricity. In order to get electricity we need Power Plants. Yes, it does release 40% of the U.S carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but it also helps us in our daily lives. This also brings us into our next vital source.
Yes, cars do emit 20% of the carbon dioxide from the U.S, but without cars our live would not be the same (Layton and Nice) Our lives would not be easy to live. People who drive spend at least half their time driving. Cars are very essential to our lives. It is something that we do not think about, but we actually need it in our lives. For example, breathing air, we do not really think about it when we inhale and exhale, but we need it. It is something that should not be taken away. The same concept applies to a car. Okay, now you are probably thinking take all cars away from the environment, and travel by regional rail, subway, trolley, or any other transportation excluding cars. If you actually think about that, the regional rails, subways, trolleys or any other transportation other than cars, imagine how crowded each of them would be especially during peak hours, imagine how much money the government would have to put to build more tracks for the train, or dig holes for the subway. This would also take more money from our paychecks!
Okay, now you are probably thinking everyone should switch to Hybrid cars. Hybrid cars are basically cars that do run with gasoline hence not emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (Layton and Nice). They run by charging the vehicle. If the world switched from gasoline car to hybrid car, their expense for the car would boom. The cars cost so much and the expense of replacing the battery every few years insures that they are far more expensive to operate then regular cars (Layton and Nice). Maintenance will also be expensive as technology increases. And for all the people who are anal about the performance of a car, the hybrid is not the answer. The performance on the Hybrid is much poorer than a regular gasoline car (Layton and Nice). And the last fact is the Hybrid’s engine is much bigger and bulky than a regular gasoline based car (Layton and Nice). This also takes in more energy if you are going up a hill or if you accelerate (Nice and Layton). This will also reduce the lifetime of your vehicle.
Moreover, this also goes for trucks and airplanes. Yes, they also release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but reducing the number of airplanes or trucks can really affect our economy. It will slow up the process of shipping, traveling, and etc. Reducing the number of airplanes would also affect our last minute trips or emergency trips to long distances. As to the trucks, it will be way too expensive and difficult to make trucks gasoline free. Making hybrid trucks will be way to expensive. Trucks need massive amount of energy to travel from one place to another and to replace the battery and to maintain the truck will be way too complicated and expensive.
The last factor that is vital to our lives yet dangerous to the atmosphere is deforestation. Deforestation is the burning and cutting of trees. Deforestation is vital to our lives. I really do not know about burning, because that is a natural thing; but cutting trees can be very vital to our lives. Imagine the world without wood, paper, napkins, toilet paper or any sort of thing. It would be difficult right? With no wood, there would be no lumber and plywood to build houses, no musical instruments, no firewood for the campers to keep warm, and the list goes on. When we look around, almost half of the things are made up of wood. Also, the decaying of timber releases carbon dioxide into the air. Now it is better if we cut the trees than let them lay there decay while emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Now you mite say, you can take care of those trees that are likely to decay. Well, that also requires a lot of hard work and a lot of money involved and many resources that can be used for other useful things.
In conclusion, there are many ways that we can avoid global warming and limit our usage to such things. The main thing for us is automobiles. Instead of having three or four cars per family, we can cut it down to maybe two cars per family, depending how many drivers there are and what the situation is. If it gets to extreme, a family may think of purchasing a Hybrid car, in which I explained earlier about. Also, one can take the privilege to use transportations like train, bus or trolley, or you can always car pool. Another factor is to reduce the number of power plants. As I said earlier they release forty percent of the U.S carbon dioxide. The U.S should only build power plants if they only need it, not want it! They should also be recommended to take down some power plants. Now, we don’t want to take down most of the power plants, because it will also hurt us, by not giving us vital needs. This also goes for automobiles and many other factors that cause global warming.
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