GLOBAL WARMING, A BIG THREAT TO OUR EARTH

CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND

Global warming becomes an urgent problem today. It is going bad day by day. We see and feel many effects of global warming around us. We also hear news about bad weather, flood, and natural disaster in almost every country. Those are some kinds of global warming effects which influence human life.

Actually global warming is worse than we expected. Some studies show that there are many obvious signs which have happened caused by global warming process. In the Arctic, temperatures are rising and ice is melting dramatically in few years. It is very dangerous to human lives because the dramatic changes in Arctic will bring many bad effects to our places.

The scientists try to find the solution of global warming. They do research to know how to prevent global warming. They also create technology and material to reduce global warming. The scientists need a long time to do researches because their activities may not be successful just in time.

It is very important to people knowing what they have to do to face the global warming. In other hand, global warming is increasing very fast. Therefore, this essay will entirely explain about what global warming is, what the causes and the effects are, and what the solutions are to reduce global warming.

1. DEFINITON

Global warming is the increase of the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. The term is also used for the scientific theory of anthropogenic global warming. This theory explains that the increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released mainly by the burning of fossil fuels, and, to a lesser extent, land clearing and agriculture, are the primary sources of warming.

Global warming is closely related to weather and climate. People usually cannot distinguish properly between weather and climate. Weather is condition of the air in a certain place at a certain time. Weather can change within a very short time. Weather includes daily changes in barometric, precipitation, pressure, temperature, and wind in a certain location.

Climate describes the total of all weather occurring over a period of years in a given place. This includes average weather conditions, regular weather sequences, and special weather events. From this explanation, we can conclude that in normal condition, climate changes need a long period to happen.

2. THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

The greenhouse effect is the raise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s temperature would be about 60°F colder. Because of how they warm the world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere behave like the glass panes in green house. Sunlight enters the Earth’s atmosphere, passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases. When the gases reach the Earth’s surface, land, water, and biosphere absorb the sunlight energy. After that, this energy is sent back into the atmosphere. Some of the energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, then causing our world to heat up. The pictures above will illustrate the process of greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is important. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would not be warm enough for humans to live. But, if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it could make the Earth warmer than usual. Even a little extra warming may cause problems for humans, plants, and animals. Scientists are sure that the greenhouse effect makes the Earth warmer.

The Earth’s average temperature has increased rapidly within these 50 years. Scientists think that this temperature increase become one of the factor that fasten the glaciers and sea ice melting. The warmer temperatures in the sea make it rise even more. This is very dangerous to people because heat makes water expand. If the ocean expands, it will take up more space and destroy places around it.

CHAPTER II

PROBLEMS

A. THE CAUSES

There are many factors cause global warming. Those factors can be classified into 2 groups: the natural factors and the man-made factors. Both natural and man-made factors are making the global warming worse year by year. In ancient time, when population was not as large as now, the man-made factors were not significant. But now, when population of human is going greater in a short time, those factors bring a significant influence to global warming.

1. Natural Causes

Natural causes are the causes that are created by nature without any human influence. One of the natural causes is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases. It is very dangerous to environment, especially for human. This cause cannot be prevented by human so that we can just avoid it.

2. Man-made Causes

As the big number of population growth, people bring many bad influences to the environment. They build industrialization in every sector to develop the economy. This way not only gives positive impacts, but also negatives impacts. The positives industrialization are developing economy, increasing job fields, and providing various products which are needed by people. The negatives impacts are as many as the positives. Industrialization causes pollution. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems.

Pollution, which is produced from factories, comes in various shape and size. There are air pollution, water pollution, and soil pollution. The water and soil pollution are caused by poisoned spoiled substance, such as mercury, detergent, and the other substances. Burning fossil becomes the most factor which causes air pollution. Fossil fuels are fuels made of organic matter such as coal and oil. When fossil fuels are burned, they release a greenhouse gas called CO­_2. Mining coal and oil also allows methane to escape. Methane is naturally in the ground, but when coal or oil is mined, people have to dig up the Earth. It is mean that the methane escapes together into the atmosphere.

Another major man-made cause of global warming is population. More people means more food, more housing, and more transportation. That means more methane releases because there will be more burning of fossil fuels and more agriculture. Because more food is needed, we have to raise more food. One of the ways is by breeding the animals. However, the animals in barn and cattle can produce methane gas from their spoils. People also cut the forest to create a new farm. It is actually dangerous because the forest has an important function to the environment balance. The forest can absorb CO₂ from the air and produce O_2. CO₂ is one of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming.

As the fact that CO₂ contributes to global warming, the increase of population makes the problem worse because people breathe out CO_2. The trees that can convert the CO₂ to O₂, are being cut down because people are using the land as property for houses and buildings. When people do not replacing the trees, it means that the most important part of the ecosystem has been decreased. People are constantly taking advantages from natural resources, but they giving nothing back in return.

Population growth also means transportation development. People need to mobile in short time, so that they need a modern transportation methods. But actually this modern transportation produces pollution into the air. As the fact before, fossil fuels which are used by transportation release CO₂. ­The statistic shows that coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution. There is a picture that shows number of CO­₂emissions produced by countries in the world.

B. THE EFFECTS

The effects of global warming are many and various, both for environment and for human life. The primary effect of global warming is increasing carbon dioxide and increasing global average surface temperature. From this primary effect, a variety of secondary effects are happened, including sea level rise, impacts on agriculture, reductions in the ozone layer, increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, and the spread of diseases.

Those effects influence not only human activities, but also ecosystems. Increasing global temperature means that ecosystems may change; some species may be forced out of their habitats (possibly to extinction) because of changing conditions, while others may flourish. In other hand, increasing carbon dioxide may increase ecosystems' productivity.

1. Bad Weather

The scientists said that as the climate grows warmer, evaporation will increase. This is expected to continue to cause heavier rainfall and more erosion, and in more vulnerable tropical areas (especially in Africa), desertification due to deforestation. Many scientists think that it could result in more extreme weather as global warming progresses.

Bad weather has bad impacts to human life. It will cause flood which has happened in some countries recently. Flood destroys thousands houses, buildings, roads, and the other facilities. It also influences the transportation and communication system. Flood has cost more than that we expect.

2. Destabilization of Local Climates

The total surface area of glaciers worldwide has decreased by 50% since the end of the 19th century. As of March 2005, the snow cap that has covered the top of Mount Kilimanjaro for the past 11,000 years since the last ice age has almost disappeared. The loss of glaciers not only directly causes landslides, flash floods and glacial lake overflow, but also increases annual variation in water flows in rivers.

3. Sea Level Rise

With increasing average global temperature, the water in the oceans expands in volume, and additional water enters them which had previously been locked up on land in glaciers and the polar ice caps. An increase of 1.5 to 4.5 °C is estimated to lead to an increase of 15 to 95 cm.

The fact shows that sea level has risen more than 120 meters since the peak of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago. The bulk of that occurred before 6000 years ago. From 3000 years ago to the start of the 19th century, sea level was almost constant, rising at 0.1 to 0.2mm/year. Since 1900, the level has risen at 1–2 mm/year; since 1992, satellite altimetry from TOPEX/Poseidon indicates a rate of about 3 mm/year.

The increasing of sea level rise also occurs in Jakarta this last years. In North Jakarta, sea water often expands to the land, even to some kilometers from seashore. Some researches shows that Jakarta may be sank in less than 50 years from now. It is very terrible, because Jakarta has a crowded population.

4. Ecosystems

Rising temperatures are beginning to influence ecosystems. Research shows that butterflies have shifted their ranges northward by 200 km in Europe and North America. Plants lag behind, and larger animals' migration is slowed down by cities and highways. In Britain, spring butterflies are appearing an average of 6 days earlier than two decades ago. In the Arctic, the waters of Hudson Bay are ice-free for three weeks longer than they were thirty years ago, affecting polar bears, which do not hunt on land.

5. Glacier Retreat

The Arctic is thawing very rapidly, documented by new reports from scientists and arctic natives. The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment which released in late 2004 shows changes from the ice at the North Pole to animals and human settlements. More recent reports from Greenland show outlet glaciers moving meters per hour and rapidly thinning.

6. Decline of agriculture

For some time it was hoped that a positive effect of global warming would be increased agricultural yields, because of the role of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis, especially in preventing photorespiration, which is responsible for significant destruction of several crops. Moreover, the region likely to be worst affected is Africa, both because its geography makes it particularly vulnerable, and because seventy per cent of the population rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods.

7. Water scarcity

Scientists said that sea level rises threaten to contaminate groundwater, affecting drinking water and agriculture in coastal zones. Increased evaporation will reduce the effectiveness of reservoirs. Increased extreme weather means more water falls on hardened ground unable to absorb it. It is leading to flash floods instead of a replenishment of soil moisture or groundwater levels. In some areas, shrinking glaciers threaten the water supply. Higher temperatures will also increase the demand for water for cooling purposes.

This condition is going worse when people cut down the trees. The rain will go through to the sea before it is absorbed by the trees. It means that groundwater will decrease just in time. In dry season comes, this condition will caused a terrible water scarcity, but in rainy season, flood will come easily.

CHAPTER III

SOLUTIONS

There are many ways that people can do for reducing global warming. People can cut global warming by reducing pollution from vehicles and power plants. Using renewable energy is very important because it can reduce the using of fossil fuel that can cause global warming. It is better to manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy, so that the using of energy can be saved.

Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and bio-energy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases. Since the burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide but renewable energy does not, increasing the share of our electricity generated from renewable resources is one of the most effective ways to reduce global warming emissions.

Global warming may be a big problem, but there are many little things that people can do to make a difference. Many greenhouse gases come from things people do every day, but there are some simple steps to reduce it:

1. Save Electricity; Turning off lights, the television, and the computer when they are not used can reduce the greenhouse releases.
2. Bike, Bus, Walk; People can also save energy by sometimes taking the bus, riding a bike, or walking.
3. Plant Trees; Planting trees is a great way to reduce greenhouse gases. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air.
4. Recycle; Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers. When people recycle, they send less trash to the landfill and help save natural resources, like trees, oil, and elements such as aluminum.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Global warming becomes a big threat to the Earth right now because it has many bad impacts. Global warming is when carbon dioxide increases in the air and the air start to be warmer and hotter. The impacts are not only in environment aspect, but also in other aspects, such as economy, transportation, and agriculture. Global warming also threats the human life because of the natural disaster caused by global warming. The effects of global warming is going worse if there is not any preventive action from now.

The causes of global warming can be divided into 2 factors: natural factors and man-made factors. These factors make global warming worse year by year. Right now, the man-made factors are more significant than the natural factors since the population growth are increasing very fast. The greenhouse gases, especially methane and carbon dioxide become the most harmful causes of global warming.

Global warming is a big problem, but there are many little things that people can do to reduce it. Scientists are doing researches to find the way to solve global warming problems. The best and most simple solution to stop global warming is to plant massive amounts of trees to drastically reduce emissions. Moreover, the use of renewable resources will give a big change to solve global warming.

It is important for everyone to concern about global warming. Start from simple things such as recycle the goods, save electricity, and plant trees. It would be better if everyone not only know about the global warming, but also do the real action to reduce it.

REFERENCES

www.causesofglobalwarming.net

www.globalwarming.org

www.wikipedia.org