Climate Change: Rising Temperatures on Earth

Climate change, also called global warming refers to the rise in average surface temperatures on Earth. An overwhelming scientific agreement maintains that climate change is due primarily to the human use of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air. The gases trap heat within the atmosphere, which can have a range of effects on ecosystems, including rising sea levels, severe weather events, and droughts that render landscapes more susceptible to wildfires. The article “Are the Effects of Global Warming Really that Bad” by Melissa Denchak discusses several effects of global warming that is affecting seriously to the wildlife and the environment recently.

Denchak begins by giving readers a background of how global warming is affecting to the Earth these days. She states from outside resources that climate expert’s project will be at least eight degrees warmer by 2100. She also cites from National Climate Assessment that human influences are the number one cause of global warming including carbon pollution people cause by burning fossil fuels and the pollution capturing they prevent by destroying forests.

This research shows that in 2000 to 2009 the weather was warmer than any other decade in at least the past 1,300 years. First effect of global warming that Denchak has mentioned is more frequent and severe weather. The following influences if higher temperature are storms, heat, waves, floods, and droughts. Denchak also cited research from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that severe weather has caused at least $1 billion in losses in 2015 in United States.

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Moreover, this climate change also leads to drought conditions jeopardize access to clean drinking water, dust storms, and flash flooding. Next, the author states higher death rates is also an effect of global warming. The 21st century climate change has been said to be the biggest global health threat by scientists. Denmak also shows research that there are hundreds of heat-related deaths happen every year because of direct influences and the indirect impacts of heat-exacerbated, life-threatening illnesses in the United States. The third effect in this article is dirtier air. Since higher temperature leads to increasing ground level zone, the air pollution become worse. Following to that, air pollution that comes from cars, factories, and other sources react to sunlight and heat leads to higher hospital admission rates and higher death rates for asthmatics. Human also suffer from cardiac or pulmonary disease due to dirtier air. Next effect that the author mentions is higher wildlife extinction rates. In order to prove her points, Denchak cited a research from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s states that global warming has leads to many serious results to wildlife animals such as ocean species are moving their geographic area to escape warming. Those animals also change their seasonal behaviors and traditional migration patterns. The rate of disappearances of animals with backbones has increased to 114 times faster than they should be. Furthermore, more acidic oceans is another effect of global warming. The ocean has been more acidic because of their absorption of some of people’s excess emissions. This problem has been a threat to underwater life such as shellfisheries and it has cost Pacific Northwest oyster industry nearly $110 million. Lastly, the other effect of global warming is higher sea levels. Average temperatures in the Arctic are increasing 2 times as fast as they are elsewhere on earth, and the world’s ice sheets are melting fast. By 2100, it is estimated our oceans will be up to four feet higher, threatening coastal systems and low-lying areas, including entire island nations and the world’s largest cities. At the end, the author tells readers good news that there is still hope to end this global warming for good.

This problem has never been more important than right now to the topic biology. Global warming is severely affecting the world, not only to human life, but also to wildlife animal kingdom. With the uncontrollable rising rate of animal extinction, there will be a loss of balance of nature. As the article has mentioned, many ocean species will move from their geographic ranges to coolers climes, and that will lead to the unfamiliar habitat that will cause many difficulties for ocean species to survive in long term. In additional, the ocean species that are currently living their area will face the loss of food sources due to foreign species, which just move to escape warming. These problems are not just happening only to the marine ecosystem but it is also occurring in landing animals. If people cannot fix this problem, the extinction of animal will continue to spread out widely and the balance of nature will become more serious. For example, mouse and snake are the main food sources of egos are extinct, mouse and snake will multiply uncontrollably which will lead to unbalance of ecosystem. Global warming is an issue that is not only important to wildlife animals, but also to the environment. According to ELS, Changes to ecosystem functions can in turn increase or decrease the rate of human‐driven climate change. In addition to effects of climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, plants may respond directly to rising concentrations of CO2, while aquatic species cope with changes in water chemistry as greenhouse gasses dissolve in water. In short, this issue has been a significant issue that environmentalists, scientists and people who care about nature are dealing every day to help the temperature decreases every degree. Natural resources are available to maintain the very complex interaction and comfortable lives between living organisms and non-living organisms. Humans should be thankful because they have been given a priceless present by using it limitedly and respect it instead of destroying it.

For people who love animals like me, it feels sad when hearing species of animals are becoming extinct, and people have no more chance to see them again. It is also worse for the next generation of human when they have to deal with the problems that the previous generations have made. Global warming has led to more frequent and severe weather as the aforementioned article has stated which has caused an extraordinary weather to Southern California where I live in the last two months. It was raining for several weeks that lead to the coldest weather in recorded history. According The Washington Post, for the first time on record, Los Angeles went an entire February without once hitting 70 degrees, and the City of Angels registered its coldest month since 1962, averaging about five degrees colder than normal. This article also points out that Mean February temperatures — including data from this February — have over time risen 5.5 degree since bookkeeping began in 1878. This is a symptom of a warming world. The fact that this has been the coolest February since 1962 does not negate the 2.3 degrees the city has heated up on average since then. As the climate is changing incredibly, many forest fires have occurred more frequently. Since I have lived here, I have heard about two to three forest fires in California within the last two years, and it took up to a week to stop the fires from being blown by the wind. Every time the forest fire happens, it always leads to serious effects of losing homes and the increasing of animal death within these fires. Unless people start to take actions in their daily lives even though the most minority ones, the decreasing of global warming effects would never happen in the near future.

To conclude, global warming has caused many serious issues consist of more frequent and severe weather, higher death rates, more air contamination, higher wildlife extinction rates, more acidic oceans and higher sea levels. There is a depressing fact that people who are living in the present just hope that the disaster or death of the planet would not happen in their time. If this problem continues to happen, the next generations may have to suffer from many severe consequences such as numerous natural disasters that can harm to humans’ health, wildlife animal’s habitats, and ecosystems are alive in the Earth. Therefore, human should stop and improve this condition as soon as they can. We have to try to stop this issue by rising individuals’ awareness in preservation and conservation of natural resources before it is too late. Let’s contribute the improvement by maintaining and lengthening the age of the Earth. Otherwise, in the near future, human would receive the harsh punishment from the Mother of nature.