It is not hard to believe that
global warming is one of the biggest problems around the world. 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
from http://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
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure.
7. Wikipedia (2013, April, 25). Global Warming.
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
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