1. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide
emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants
Our ever increasing
addiction to electricity from coal burning power plants releases enormous
amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions come
from electricity production, and burning coal accounts for 93% of emissions
from the electric utility industry [EPA, pg. 10].
Every day, more electric gadgets flood the market, and without widespread
alternative energy sources, we are highly dependent on burning coal for our
personal and commercial electrical supply.
2. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide
emissions from burning gasoline for transportation
Our modern car
culture and appetite for globally sourced goods is responsible for about 33% of
emissions in the U.S. [EPA pg. 8]
With our population growing at an alarming rate, the demand for more cars and
consumer goods means that we are increasing the use of fossil fuels for
transportation and manufacturing. Our consumption is outpacing our discoveries
of ways to mitigate the effects, with no end in sight to our massive consumer
culture.
3. Global Warming Cause: Methane emissions
from animals, agriculture such as
rice paddies, and from Arctic seabeds
Methane is another
extremely potent greenhouse gas, ranking right behind CO2. When organic matter
is broken down by bacteria under oxygen-starved conditions (anaerobic
decomposition) as in rice paddies, methane is produced. The process also takes
place in the intestines of herbivorous animals, and with the increase in the
amount of concentrated livestock production, the levels of methane released
into the atmosphere is increasing. Another source of methane is methane clathrate, a compound
containing large amounts of methane trapped in the crystal structure of ice. As methane
escapes from the Arctic seabed, the rate of global warming will
increase significantly.
The use of forests
for fuel (both wood and for charcoal) is one cause of deforestation, but in the
first world, our appetite for wood and paper products, our consumption of
livestock grazed on former forest land, and the use of tropical forest lands
for commodities like palm oil plantations contributes to the mass deforestation
of our world. Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and
this deforestation releases large amounts of carbon, as well as reducing the
amount of carbon capture on the planet.
5. Global Warming Cause: Increase in usage of
chemical fertilizers on croplands
In the last half of
the 20th century, the use of chemical
fertilizers (as
opposed to the historical use of animal manure) has risen dramatically. The
high rate of application of nitrogen-rich fertilizers has effects on the heat
storage of cropland (nitrogen oxides have 300 times more heat-trapping capacity
per unit of volume than carbon dioxide) and the run-off of excess fertilizers creates
‘dead-zones’ in
our oceans. In addition to these effects, high nitrate levels in groundwater
due to over-fertilization are cause for concern for human health.
6. Global Warming Effect: Rise in sea levels worldwide
Scientists predict an increase in
sea levels worldwide due to the melting of two massive ice sheets in Antarctica
and Greenland, especially on the East coast of the U.S. However, many
nations around the world will experience the effects of rising sea levels, which could displace
millions of people. One nation, the Maldives, is already looking for a new home, thanks to
rising sea levels.
7. Global Warming Effect: More killer storms
The severity of
storms such as hurricanes and cyclones is increasing, and
research published in Nature found:
“Scientists have come up with the firmest
evidence so far that global
warming will significantly increase the intensity of the most extreme storms
worldwide. The maximum wind speeds of the strongest tropical
cyclones have increased significantly since 1981, according to research
published in Nature this week. And the upward trend, thought to be driven by
rising ocean temperatures, is unlikely to stop at any time soon.”
8. Global Warming Effect: Massive crop
failures
According to recent
research, there is a 90% chance
that 3 billion people worldwide will have to choose between moving their
families to milder climes and going hungry due to climate
change within 100 years. One of the main causes of
this will be the spread of desertification, and its accompanying effects.
“Climate change is expected to have the most
severe impact on water supplies. “Shortages in future are likely to threaten
food production, reduce sanitation, hinder economic development and damage
ecosystems. It causes more violent swings between floods and droughts.”” –
Guardian: Global
warming causes 300,000 deaths a year
9. Global Warming Effect: Widespread
extinction of species
According to research
published in Nature, by 2050, rising
temperatures could lead to the extinction of more than a million species.
And because we can’t exist without a diverse population of species on Earth,
this is scary news for humans.
This 6th mass
extinction is
really just a continuation of the holocene extinction which began at the end of
the last ice age and has resulted in the extinction of nearly all of the
Earth’s megafauna animals, largely as a result of human-expansion.
“Climate change now represents at least as
great a threat to the number of species surviving on Earth as
habitat-destruction and modification.” Chris Thomas, conservation biologist at
the University of Leeds
Widespread species
loss and lists of
endangered species just
keep growing. This is a concerning matter on many fronts.
10. Global Warming Effect: Disappearance of
coral reefs
A report on coral reefs from WWF says that in a worst case scenario,
coral populations will collapse by 2100 due to increased temperatures and ocean
acidification. The ‘bleaching’
of corals from
small but prolonged rises in sea temperature is a severe danger for ocean ecosystems,
and many other species in the oceans rely on coral reefs for their survival.
“Despite the oceans’s immensity — 71 per cent
of the Earth’s surface with an average depth of almost 4km (2½m) — there are
indications that it is approaching its tipping point. For reefs, warming waters
and acidification are closing in like a pair of jaws that threaten to make them
the first global ecosystem to disappear.” – Times Online: 21st-century
Noah’s Ark needed to save coral reefs from extinction
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