It is not hard to believe that global
warming is one of the biggest problems around the world. What is Global Warming?
What causes Global Warming has become a hot research topic. Global warming is
an increase in the earth's temperature due to fuels, industry, and agricultural
processes caused by human, natural, and other gas emissions. This results in an
increased emission of greenhouse gases. Short-wave solar radiation sinks into
the Earth's atmosphere and warms its surface; while long wave infrared
radiation emitted by earth's surface is absorbed, and then re-emitted by trace
gases. (Global Warming, 2009)Global warming has a large effect on human life. Other research
points out that human health depends on a good environment. In the next
generation, global warming will become one of the main factors to affect human
health. Many diseases will spread more quickly in a warm environment, such as
AIDS, HPAI and SARS. On the other hand, global warming also has a negative
impact on the animal’s life. For example, because of the ice melting, polar
bears have a hard time to survive. In Northern Europe, polar bears need human
help to hibernate. Those examples are a clear description that global warming
has had a negative impact on human or animal life, but facing this serious
problem, different people insist on different opinions. Some people consider
that global warming is the inevitable result of urban development and improved
quality of life. Others think that we cannot avoid global warming, but we can
take some actions to reduce global warming. In my opinion, some of human’s
actions are the biggest reason that causes global warming. Even if I agree that
we cannot prevent global warming, at least we can reduce the effects of global
warming.
Global
warming has a large effect on agriculture which is necessary to support of
human life. According to Wikipedia (Global Warming, 2012), under the present
trends: by 2030,maize production
in Southern
Africa could decrease by up to 30% while rice, millet and maize in South Asia could
decrease by up to 10%.By 2080, yields in developing
countries could decrease by 10% to 25% on average while India could
see a drop of 30% to 40%.By 2100, while the population of three billion is
expected to double, rice and maize yields in the tropics are expected to decrease
by 20–40% because of higher temperatures without accounting for the decrease in
yields as a result of soil moisture and water supplies stressed by rising
temperatures. Future warming of around 3 °C (by 2100, relative to 1990–2000)
could result in increased crop yields in
mid- and high-latitude areas, but in low-latitude areas, yields could decline,
increasing the risk of malnutrition. A similar regional pattern of net benefits
and costs could occur for economic (market-sector)
effects. Warming above 3 °C could result in crop yields falling in temperate regions,
leading to a reduction in global food production.
There
are many misconceptions about global warming. Some believe that pollution
causes global warming, but the fact is global warming is the result of burning
fossil fuels, coal, and oil that release carbon dioxide. Another misconception
is nuclear power causes climate change. Nuclear power actually reduces
emissions of carbon dioxide when used in place of coal. Some believe that
global warming means that it will become warmer all over. The name is
misleading because in some places, it will actually become colder. The majority
of scientists believe global warming is a process underway and that it is
human-induced. The greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide. These gases occur naturally. The Earth uses those gases to warm its
surface. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when solid waste,
fossil fuels, wood, and wood products are burned. Each greenhouse gas absorbs
heat differently. If natural gases did not occur, the temperatures would be
91.4 degrees cooler than the current temperatures. These gases trap heat and
cause the greenhouse effect, rising global temperatures. Human activities add
to the levels of these gasses, causing more problems. The burning of solid waste, fossil fuels, and wood products
are major causes. (Global Warming, 2009)
There
is no doubt that transportation has greatly contributed to global warming. As
time goes on, with rapid economic development, people’s living standards have
gradually improved, and most families have bought cars. That was the main
reason why the number of cars soared over in the past few years. The increased
number of cars not only causes air pollution, but also is the leading cause of
global warming. Cars need to burn oil to generate power, but in the process, it
will produce large amounts of chemical gas, with carbon dioxide as the highest
emitter. All of us need to be aware that carbon dioxide can cause the
greenhouse effect, and the greenhouse effect is the cause of global warming. In
other words, carbon dioxide creates a series of reactions, and those reactions
affect our lives and bring inevitable negative effects on us. On the other
hand, all the cars are equipped with air conditioning. Some luxury cars are
even equipped with a car refrigerator. In the past few years, refrigerators and
air conditioners need a substance called Freon for refrigeration. Freon is the
leading substance causing the ozone hole. What is the ozone hole? The ozone
layer is a protective layer of Earth. Most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation
is absorbed by the ozone layer. Fortunately, the government has realized the
harmful effects of Freon and prohibits large-scale use of Freon. But some of cars are age-old and still in use are still use
Freon to refrigeration.
If
the ozone layer is destroyed, the sun’s ultraviolet radiation will reach the
ground directly, and the earth surface temperature will rise. In addition, the
ozone layer depletion will produce a great quantity of carbon dioxide, the
radiation pressure of carbon dioxide can make global warming. According to Wikipedia
(2001), radiation pressure is the pressure exerted
upon any surface exposed to electromagnetic radiation. If absorbed,
the pressure is the power flux density divided by the speed of light. If
the radiation is totally reflected, the radiation pressure is doubled. What is important is radiation reflected can
produce quantity of heat and lead to global warming. Is ozone hole just none
which without any contact with the human life? You cannot imagine what negative
effect the ozone hole could produce. The sun’s ultraviolet radiation direct
exposure will increase the risk of the human skin cancer. Transportation can
directly or indirectly contribute to global warming.
Deforestation
is a controversial reason causing the global warming. According to a report by
Rome (2008), most people assume that global warming is caused by burning oil
and gas, and that deforestation is a trivial reason that could be ignored. But
in fact between 25 and 30 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the
atmosphere each year -1.6 billion tons - is caused by deforestation. Nowadays,
deforestation become more and more frequently. In accordance with Forest Area
Organization (FAO) figures, some 13 million hectares of forests worldwide are
lost every year, almost entirely in the tropics. Deforestation remains high in
Africa, Latin American and Southeast Asia. Why do they allow deforestation? I
think it is because of the increased population. The government and businessmen
need to create more space for business, so they chose to cut down trees. Around
the world, there are still large areas of forest and the use of trees is very
wide spread. In other words, whether trees are processed into products for
sale, or cut down to gain a bigger commercial space, all of that is income for
businessmen and government. However, they just get short term profits while it
is likely that they lose more profits in the long term. Trees can absorb carbon
dioxide and release fresh oxygen into the air. On the one hand, the reduction
of a large area of the forest leads to a decrease in oxygen production, and a
reduction in the air purity. On the other hand, reduce the absorption of carbon
dioxide leads to the accumulation of carbon dioxide. Therefore it is also one
of the main reasons for the greenhouse effect. It is worth mentioning that
carbon dioxide is the gas with the highest quantity of the greenhouse gases.
Trees
not only can be processed into the necessities of life, such as tissue and
paper, but also can be used to burn for house heating. In China, some poor
people that cannot afford the costs of expensive gases choose cheaper methods
such as burning wood for heating. In the United States, there are still people
use fireplaces in the winter. Trees contain 50 percent of carbon. If it is
burned in air, carbon will make a chemical reaction with oxygen and produce
carbon dioxide.
Many
daily necessities and combustible consist of carbon. So when those burn, they
will produce carbon dioxide. For example, plastic products are a common item in
daily life. However, plastic products are not easy to break down. So they can
exist in the soil more than ten years. To solve these problems, experts suggest
that burning is the only way to destroy plastic products. Why can plastic
produces exist more than ten years? The reason is plastic products are made of
a solid carbon structure which will produce numerous carbon dioxide when people
burn it. For all of those reasons that cause carbon dioxide emissions,
carbon dioxide is the highest emitter causing global warming.
Despite
the evidence, that points out global warming is made by human and suggest take
action to reduce global warming, some of other people still insist that global
warming is the necessary result of urban development and improved quality of
life. Those people are opposed to reduce the number of cars and support
deforestation. They think that we need cars every day, and we cannot image our
life without cars. Cars are more convenient than public transportation and
utilization of the car represents an improvement of living quality.
Deforestation can improve economic income. We have large areas of forest
around the world, so it does not matter it we use a little bit
of forest. In addition, deforestation can make extra space. Government can
use those spaces to build more buildings and create more profits. Nowadays, the
country should put economic construction in the first place. A developed
economy is the only way to become a powerful country, so environmental
pollution is a necessary part of economic development. We can take ‘First
develop then solve’ policy.
As
far as I am concerned, global warming is the necessary part of economic
development, but it is not taken seriously nowadays. This is human caused and
has serious consequences. We can avoid lots of things, if we realized the
seriousness of the phenomenon. If we really care about environment, we can
control the development of global warning. We cannot prevent global warming
totally, but we can decrease it. Now the government is aware of the serious
consequences of human development so they decided to take actions to reduce the
global warming. The government needs to make policies to punish people who
engage in deforestation at random, and plant trees on the both side of the
road. This action not only can absorb automobile exhaust, but also can reduce
traffic noise. I believe that through our striving we can ease the tense
situation.
References:
1. Unger, N. (2009). Transportation Pollution and Global Warming. Retrieved fromhttp://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/unger_02/
2. Rome. (2006, September.4). Deforestation causes global warming.
4. Saigor (2009) Speech of Global Warming
5. (2009). Ends Warmest Decade on Record. NASA Earth Observatory Image of the
Day, 22 January 2010. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
6. Wikipedia (2001). Radiation Pressure .Retrieved fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure.
7. Wikipedia (2013, April, 25). Global Warming. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
No comments:
Post a Comment