Global Warming: The Beginning of the End. in the minds of millions of people around the world. With our current administration

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1 Alvarez 1 Nathan Alvarez Professor Mary Hays RHET April 2017 Word Count: 2070 Global Warming: The Beginning of the End What exactly is Global Warming? Global Warming is an epidemic that has been in the minds of millions of people around the world. With our current administration running the country who believe that global warming is just a hoax to scare the lives of millions, it s quite easy for us Americans to believe their views. People need to understand that global warming is indeed real, and the world needs to do something about it, or human existence could be gone for good. Global Warming, also known as climate change, not only affects us humans, but the earth s atmosphere and environment as well. Studies have shown that climate change has effects in weather, human health, agriculture, and the overall economy. What s causing global warming to get worse through the years? In the book Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and the Future, Global warming is the increase in the earth s temperature mostly due to the greenhouse effect. In a world where global warming is non existent, the earth s temperature is controlled by the balance of the energy coming from the sun, and the loss of this back into space. The energy transmitted from the sun to earth is in the form of radiation. Two thirds of the radiation that comes from the sun is absorbed by the earth s land and oceans (Maslin). The remainder is

2 Alvarez 2 radiated back to space, but natural greenhouse gases like water vapor, ozone, methane, and nitrous oxide absorb some of the radiation to keep the atmosphere warm. (Figure 1: Describes how the greenhouse effect works (Maslin).) Like most of reality not everything is perfect. Human activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution has been increasing the amount of green house gases present in the atmosphere causing the earth to warm more than it should be. Trevor Ryan Anderson, a professor at Purdue University who studies and teaches chemistry, has found that carbon dioxide amounts have been increasing every year since The average concentration of carbon dioxide in 1958 was 316 parts per million (ppmv) and has increased to 369 ppmv in 1998 (Anderson). With an increase of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, the amount of radiation being absorbed by carbon dioxide also increases, thus increasing the earth s global temperature, putting life as we know it in jeopardy. One of the many risks that humans could face due to the worsening of global warming, is enhanced weather systems producing very strong natural disasters around the world. A study conducted by Sandra Banholzer, James Kossin, and Simon Donner,

3 Alvarez 3 researchers from the University of British Columbia, investigated the impact of the changing climate and the effects on weather events. Observations ranging back since 1950 indicate an increase of extreme weather events around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that further increases through the 21 st century are expected if global warming is not under control. These increases include a growing frequency of heat waves in Africa and parts of the Americas, strong tropical cyclones with record breaking wind speeds in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and strong droughts drying up the water supply in many parts of Africa and parts of the Middle East. A warmer atmosphere leads to a higher count of water vapor present in the atmosphere. With an increase in the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere, weather events causing heavy precipitation amounts are also on the rise impacting the frequency of floods, and landslides around the world causing mass amounts of casualties. Floods is the number one deadliest weather disaster around the world killing the most people compared to hurricanes and tornadoes alone (Banholzer). Natural Disasters is just the beginning of the road towards human extinction. It might not seem noticeable now, but in the coming years natural disasters are going to take a huge toll on the human population. Now that global warming has sparked up the weather events around the world, human health is the next area to get hit by the global warming burden. With an increase in strong natural disasters psychological diseases are also on the rise. People underestimate this burden, but recent studies have been showing an increase for years. These diseases like post traumatic stress disorder are directly connected to the weather event. A study by Rubonis and Bickmann, researchers in global health, have reported an

4 Alvarez 4 increase of up to 17 percent in the psychopathology during the 21st century due to the increase in these weather events (Rossati). Infectious diseases that are not necessarily psychological are also affected by the global warming burden. While climate affects the range as to where these infectious diseases reach around the world, the weather mostly affects the overall timing and the intensity of the outbreaks. Models have showed and estimated that the infectious diseases present around the world that by the year 2030, more than 10% of infectious diseases are expected. Another model has also showed that if the global temperature increases by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius infectious diseases could increase by 3 to 5 percent (Rossati). With an increase of infectious diseases occurring all around the world, an increase in the demand of doctors and nurses would be present in order to help those effected with the disease and help keep the diseases from spreading and causing even more casualties. (Figure 2: This figure goes over the effects of climate change on human health. (Rossati).) Despite all the issues that affect humans directly due to the increase of the earth s temperature, the economies around the world are also affected. Studies have shown that

5 Alvarez 5 the earth s rising temperatures due to climate change can negatively affect the global economy. Recent research has also found that if the temperatures continue to rise the global GDP per capita will be 23% lower in 2100 if the issue is not looked upon by our governments (Worland). In other words, we re just throwing away money without addressing the issue or better yet the bigger picture and working together in order to keep the issue from getting any worse. A report released from a Citigroup has found that by minimizing the temperature rise to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit rather than 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit, where we are currently at, could minimize the global GDP loss by over fifty trillion dollars (Citigroup). This could help countries around the world invest in renewable energies in order to keep the global warming burden from getting any worse. Now majority of these studies revolve around the productivity of agriculture from all parts of the world. With the increase in the earth s temperatures, agriculture is greatly affected. While the tropics can experience a huge loss in their crops due to the extremely high temperatures causing the water supply to dry up that are keeping these crops alive, cold regions that are farther north from the equator can find themselves with an increase of productivity in their agriculture. At the end when global warming has done its damage the world will not be affected evenly. In other words, northern countries can find themselves with the benefit compared to the countries near the equator (Maslin). After viewing the many effects that climate change has on earth and we as humans as well, there is a way to stop this from getting any worse and to the point where human extinction can become a reality. Renewable Energy has also been on the minds of many world leaders around the world. Renewable energies such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass have been found to provide many benefits to not

6 Alvarez 6 only the climate, but our health, and our economy as well. Each and every one of these renewable energies provides its own unique benefits to help stop the increase of the earth s temperatures. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a group of scientists who all hold degrees in the sciences from top institutions from the world, have found that the US currently gains majority of its electricity production through coal-fired power plants, which provide more than 25 percent of the green house gas emissions sparking up global warming. In addition, the US also uses natural gas-fired power plants that also produce over 6 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions (Benefits). With the power of renewable energies, most of them produce little to no greenhouse gas emissions which is the main reason why global warming is getting worse through the years. To put this into numbers, the International Panel of Climate Change have found that natural gas and coal that the US uses to currently produce its electricity releases roughly between 1.5 to 4 pounds of CO2 per kilowatt hour, while renewable energies release less than 1 pound of CO2 per kilowatt into the atmosphere (Benefits). Less green house gas emission into the atmosphere means less solar radiation being absorbed by these gases causing the earth s temperature to rise. The current administration argues that renewable energy is thus too expensive to even consider. Recent studies have shown that the price of renewable energies are actually going down through the years. According to Al Gore, who was the vice president for the 45 th president of the United States of America states, Enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every forty minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world s energy needs for an entire year (qtd. In Farley). This is true, a study conducted by Washington Taylor, an MIT Physics professor who teaches a course on physics of

7 Alvarez 7 energy, has found that the earth receives more than 173,000 terawatts of solar energy every day, or in other words 173 trillion watts of energy (Chandler). To put this into a better perspective, that is 10,000 times more energy than the world actually uses. That energy is renewable and can be stored as long as the sun is still alive. This goes the same for wind energy, enough wind power blows around the Midwest every day no matter what type of weather because there s so much open land, that it also meets 100 percent of the world s energy needs (Chandler). Global Warming is indeed real and further action needs to be done right away before it gets out of hand. Leaders from around the world need to realize that renewable energy is a step towards the right direction and to a brighter future. Obviously this is a process and needs time for it to be in full swing. Signs of relief won t happen right away, but if we start now our future could be looking bright for future generations down the line. Economies could flourish, disease outbreaks will reach a record low leading to longer life spans, and weather systems would not strengthen and cause more catastrophic damage to cities around the world. If the world works together to stop the worsening of global warming mother earth would be here to stay for millions of years to come. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

8 Alvarez 8 Works Cited Anderson, Thomas R., Ed Hawkins, and Philip D. Jones. "CO2, The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming: From The Pioneering Work of Arrhenius and Callendar to Today's Earth System Models." Endeavour 40.3 (2016): Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb Banholzer, Sandra, James Kossin, and Simon Donner. The Impact of Climate Change on Natural Disasters. Spring Netherlands Benefits of Renewable Energy Use. Union of Concerned Scientists Science for A Healthy Planet and Safer World. Union of Concerned Scientists, 8 April Web. 11 April Chandler, David. Vast amounts of solar energy radiate to the Earth, but tapping it cost effectively remains a challenge. PHYS.ORG. 26 October DATE OF ACCESS. Channel, Jason, et al. Energy Darwinism II: Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn t Have to Cost the Earth. Citigroup. August April Farley John W, The Scientific Case for Modern Anthropogenic Global Warming Monthly Review, vol. 60, July/August 2008, pp Maslin, Mark. Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and the Future. MBI Publishing Company LLC and Voyageur Press Rossati, Antonella. "Global Warming and Its Health Impact." International Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine 8.1 (2017): Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb

9 Alvarez 9 Worland, Justin. Climate Change Could Wreck the Global Economy. TIME Magazine. 22, October April