The Physical Environment.
The Physical Environment.
GLOBAL WARMING!!
I am originally from Haiti, a tropical island between Jamaica and Puerto Rico. It is hot all year round and the temperature usually sits at a comfortable 85 degrees during the day with a low of around 70 degrees at night. Even if the temperature were to rise it would probably go unnoticed in Haiti because we are better prone to adapt to temperatures over a 100 F.. I am not saying that Haitians or anybody else from a tropical place like the heat so much that they want global warming to occur, only that they probably wouldn’t notice the change too much. One problem is that most of these people are not at all knowledgeable about the problem of global warming. Although, some may hear something about global warming, they don't really see it as a problem. In fact many activists in Haiti warn many farmers about cutting down trees to make firewood used to cook food and other things. For some people this is their only way to make a living and there isn't much else available for them to do. I understand that it doesn't give them the right to cut down trees because almost 30% of the island’s green has been lost as a result of the cutting down of trees by farmers. Unfortunately, their isn't much environmental activists can do because there is no law that prohibits farmers from cutting down trees. Even though there might be many organizations built to protect wild life, there is not much they can do. Globally the ecosystem is on its own in places like Haiti.
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What is global warming? Global warming is the changing of the earth’s core temperature. The increase of temperature is due to the build up of Greenhouse Gasses in our atmosphere. In 1995 the earth’s average temperature was at record high, reaching even higher than in 1998. Global warming is caused by the energy from the sun that drives the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth's surface. When this energy cannot escape back into space, this is called the Greenhouse Effect.
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The greenhouse effect is an invisible shell that acts like glass window and covers the whole planet. This shell is made up of many gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), clorofluorocarbon (CFC), troposphere ozone (O3). These are the greenhouse gases. All these gases trap solar radiation and warm the planet. The process is very similar to the way in which glass in a green house works.
With the increasing amount of these gases concentrating in the atmosphere the greenhouse effect is trapping more of the sun's energy than necessary. During the last two centuries, as a result of the industrial revolution: factories, automobiles, power plants cold and coal mining are responsible for 80% of the atmosphere carbon dioxide emission, 25% of methane emission and 20% of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. The increase in population is also a problem because of deforestation for agricultural purposes, the making of paper etc. Man made pollutants also play a role as well. In comparison to a hundred years ago the earth climate was much cooler then it is today and scientists are predicting an increase in the earth’s temperature by the twenty-first centuries. (Global surface temperatures have increase .6 to 1.2 since the late 19-century.)
(7)If the planet gets too warm it would cause a lot of problems especially with our weather systems. We would experience many droughts and severe weather like hurricanes, cyclones, and thunderstorms. In addition, a lot of species would be lost because of changing habitats, the spread of infectious diseases and the disappearance of most of our green life (forest). The increase in temperature will cause the polar ice caps to melt and cause many of our coastal cities to be under water. During the past century the sea level has risen 7 inches, and it is expected to rise 20 inches by the twenty-first century.
Although we may think that it is useless to fight because it is a no win situation, there are many things that can be done to slow down and prevent further damage to our atmosphere.
Was it this hot in the past?
For the last century the earth has been warming up faster then ever and the rate at which this is happening is accelerating faster and faster. A study done by Karl et al., in 1993 show an increase both globally and across North America in the recent decade. He found that the minimum temperature increased greatly over the western half of the continent from 1950 to 1990 by as much as 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in less than a century. The maximum increases were smaller for most part. Environmental Canada, an Canadian organization also found that since 1885 the maximum and the minimum temperature in Canada have been changing at different rates with the minimum rising faster than the maximum.
(7). Karl et al., in 1996 released a study that reveals the increase of temperature along the U.S Golf coast and also shows a ten to twenty percent increase in the central and northern plains.
(7). I guess now we should wait and see if all these scientific predictions will actually come true by the twenty-first century. I don’t think that it will matter much if the planet does warm up a little because we have survived so far, and we will do just fine.
Should Global Warming become a reality, some of the related problem would be such uncontrollable weather conditions as: severe droughts, treacherous rains, cyclones, typhoon, thunderstorms and many more. The increase in temperature will cause the polar ice caps to melt and will add more precipitation to the air causing dangerous weather conditions to occur. For more information's, check out the discovery channel web site, once in earth's alert page clique on the little pictures on the map. http://www.discovery.com/news/earthalert/earthalert.html (14)
Global warming will also have an impact on many species that will loose their habitat and cease to exist. Species like the Giant Panda, the Polar Bear, the Indian Tiger, Reindeers, Beluga Whales, Rockhopper Penguins, Snow Finch, Harlequin frog, Monarch Butterfly and Grizzly Bear just to name a few.
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(7). Not only do we have to face loosing most of these species we gonna have to deal with the spread of infectious diseases. The human health will be at great risk because of the rising temperature the number of heat related illness would increase. For example if mosquito's and other disease carrier expand their range into new warm areas then their will be a large spread of malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and viral encephalitis. (12)
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Global warming will increase problems of agriculture, as if we don't have enough already. Some areas will benefit with an increase in agriculture and some areas would suffer with the decline of agriculture.
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Most of the planets green life will die because of droughts and most plants will dry out causing frequent forest fires.
Global warming will lead to an increase in the sea level especially in our coastal cities. Cities like New York, San Francisco, Louisiana and other cities around the globe will either be flooded or experience a significant rise. It has been shown that much of the U.S. coast sea level has risen ten to twelve inches in the last century. Scientists are expecting the sea level to rise even higher by the twenty-first century.
(7). Our problem with the greenhouse effect is plain and simple. In 1994 the United States emitted about one fifth of the total greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As a result of the industrial revolution and the burning of fossil fuels in addition the abundance of cars, mining, deforestation, as well as population increase, the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases are increasing very fast. Yearly, industrial factories are responsible for about 80% of society carbon dioxide emission, and about 25% of methane and 20% of nitrous oxide.
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Fact and Fictions:
The environmental defense fund has some facts and myths that I thought was quite amusing to read. Hear are some very amusing battles.
MYTH:
Changes in temperature and changes in greenhouse gas emissions over the past century did not occur simultaneously. Therefore, measured warming cannot be due to the greenhouse gases.FACT:
Many factors have influenced climate in addition to the buildup of greenhouse gases, so there is no reason to expect the two trends to match exactly. However, computer models indicate that warming due to the greenhouse gas buildup will dominate the other factors over the coming decades. These factors include small changes in the output of the sun, a haze of particles arising from volcanic eruptions and from fossil fuel burning which reflects sunlight, and natural variations of climate. In addition, the slow heating of the oceans leads to a lag between emissions and their effect on temperature. Therefore, a simple overlay of greenhouse gas emissions and temperature data is deceptive. When global temperatures are simulated with a computer model, which accounts for most of the additional influences, the result is consistent with the observed warming, and the buildup of greenhouse gases is a dominant factor, particularly in recent decades.MYTH:
Rapid warming occurred at early times without catastrophic consequences, so society and ecosystems can adapt readily to any foreseeable warming.FACT:
Rapid warming occurred in some places at the end of the last glacial period, but since then, global climate has been stable for ten thousand years. During this time, agriculture and civilization arose, leading to fixed settlements, infrastructure, and large populations in areas which are highly vulnerable to climate shifts, such as low-lying coastal zones. Furthermore, the existence of rapid climate changes in the distant past provides only limited insight into the fate of natural ecosystems. Previously, rapid climate changes may not have occurred everywhere at once, as they are expected to in the future. Furthermore, there were no human-made barriers to inhibit adaptation by ecosystems. In contrast, human settlements, highways, and farmland will block migration of species adjusting to the warming climate of the coming century.MYTH:
Warming has been occurring largely at night, which is less of a problem than daytime warming.FACT:
Warming over the past century has occurred both during the day and at night, but nighttime warming has been the greater of the two. The buildup of the haze of particles from combustion discussed above has probably contributed to this asymmetric warming. But as warming continues, the tendency toward nighttime warming is expected to diminish, in part because the slow heating of the oceans causes a uniform atmospheric warming over time. In any event, society and ecosystems would experience nighttime warming differently than daytime warming, but may be no less problematic. For example, cold nighttime temperatures currently limit the northward spread of certain infectious diseases. The most dangerous consequences of U.S. heat waves, such as the 1995 episode in Chicago that resulted in 500 deaths, arise when nighttime temperatures remain above 80 degrees.(For more Myth and fact click on environmental defend fund)
EDF (13)To add on to these myths I had found an article on global warming from way back during the sixties by this scientist and he's wife. They predicted all these terrible things that will happen to the planet by the eighties and nineties cause of global warming this scientist name was
Ehlrich. (Click on Ehlrich to read his predictions).Solution.
What is being done? Many organizations like the EPA, the EDF and many more are trying to come up with ways to slow down global warming.
Other organizations: These are some related sites that deal with the affair of global warming and regulations on global warming.
Federal funding for global warming. (This site gives an overview the amount of atmospheric gases andhow much it cost the federal government in 1998.)
The
NRDC, (National Resources defense Council.). (Kingpins of Carbon: How Fossil Fuel Producers Contribute to Global Warming.)The
President Clinton's Proposal on Global Climate Change. (President Clinton's proposal on change of climate for the twenty-first century.)The
U.S and other nations concern. (Click on this link to see an overview of the tenth annual global warming international conference.
While I was surfing through the Internet I came across these 20 simple steps to take to reduce global warming, and I thought that they would be very interesting to read. My opinion is that no one is actually going to follow these steps because we are not prone to change the way we do things. We are creatures of habit and we wont change overnight. Read these and ask yourself: "I am willing to change my ways?"
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Is Global warming really occurring?
What about the pollutant called Aerosol?
Has it never been this hot before, and how do we know that it is not the earth natural way of doing things?
Do we have a legitimate reason to be worried?
My E-mail:
jjeanty@falcon.lhup.edu or djcube@hotmail.com
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