Global Warming: Effects on Earth

The whole concept of global
warming revolves around the fact
that the Earth is getting warmer,
which--according to the proponents
of this concept--is attributed to
anthropogenic or human-induced
causes. While environmentalists
express grave concerns over the
hazards of global warming, skeptics
seem least interested. They argue
that the predictions on which
these environmentalists and
scientists are relying are made by
computer-simulated climatic
models which are far from reliable.

Human-induced Vs. Natural
Causes
Every time this concept comes to
the debating table, the blame
game between its human-induced
causes and natural causes has to
reach its peak. There is no denying
the fact that natural causes of this
phenomenon do exist, but one has
to understand that they have
always been there. If it was not for
these natural causes, the Earth
would have been a lot colder ...
even unsuitable for human
habitation perhaps.

The major problem the planet is
facing today is that of human-
induced global warming. Over the
last couple of decades, i.e., since
the beginning of the industrial
revolution to be precise, the use of
fossil fuels for power generation
has increased tremendously. When
these fossil fuels are burned, they
produce greenhouse gases, like
carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide, which remain in the
atmosphere for hundreds of years
and trap sunlight, thus causing
the near-surface temperature to
rise.

Other anthropogenic causes of the
phenomenon include mining, use
of vehicles, electricity production,
deforestation, etc. While mining
releases methane stored beneath
the Earth's crust, use of vehicles
and electricity production release
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Trees are designed to absorb
carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and therefore, even
their destruction--in the name of
logging and agricultural activity--
contributes to global warming.

According to the U.S. National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) team of
scientists monitoring the carbon
dioxide levels at the Mauna Loa,
Hawaii, the region recorded CO 2
levels of 400.03 ppm on May 9,
2013. Though there has been a
decrease in the atmospheric
concentration of this gas in this
region since then, it is expected
that the whole of the planet's
atmosphere will average 400
ppm by 2015 or 2016.

According to the IPCC, the
expected temperature rise would
be somewhere between 2.5-10°F
over the next century. The data
compiled by the NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS)
shows that the average
temperature of 58.3°F recorded in
2012 was 1°F warmer than the
average for the mid-20th century.
If the temperature rises at the
ongoing rate, the resultant climate
change is bound to cause the
extinction of quite a few species of
plants and animals inhabiting the
planet.