Sunday, January 20, 2008

One of the most common topics when people chat about would most likely be about current affairs. Isn’t it predictable that Global Warming will actually be mentioned? In fact, many people still do not know what is it actually about at all.

Global Warming is mainly, from the word itself, is the warming of the globe, which in this case, is none other than our Earth. It is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and now, it has come to a point of alert where people would have to shake off their mindset that Global Warming is no big issue. Is it a real or partial threat?

Well, who or what causes Global Warming? Is it the Almighty Gods who are said to control this world? Is it just the science of this Earth that caused all these problems? Scientists have cleared our doubts and announced to everyone the reason for Global Warming…

It is none other than the greenhouse effects and of course, us human who are living and practically destroying this Earth.

Yes, we humans are mainly the cause of Global Warming and of course, also with the “Earth-Harming” greenhouse effects. The greenhouse effect is the reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere. When sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface, some is absorbed and warms up the Earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than sunlight. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb some of these longer wavelengths before they are lost to space. The absorption of this long wave radiant energy warms up the atmosphere. These Greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat energy, which would be otherwise lost to space. Example of greenhouse gases would be Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Ozone and Nitrous Oxide.

Well, who causes these huge amounts of greenhouse gases? The immediate answer from many would be us, the people living on this Earth. However, even if the amount of greenhouse gases lower significantly, scientist believe that the Earth’s temperature would still continue to rise for another thousand years or more! Predictions state that temperatures will rise about another 1.1 to 6.4 Degrees Celsius this century.

So, how did we make the amount of greenhouse gases rise so drastically? Burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and many other causes are the key factors that play a part in it. However, all these still occur till this day although people know how it affects our Earth. Mainly because of carbon dioxide, which comes from power plants, cars, airplanes, and even building structures can play a part too.

Another reason would be what people call feedback processes. These processes occur as evaporation of water, clouds emitting infrared radiation to Earth and even the melting of ice causes Global Warming.

From the rate we are going, generally, heat waves and periods of unusually warm weather, oceans warming, sea-level rising, coastal flooding, glaciers melting, and with the Artic and Antarctic melting, are all expected. These would result in spreading of diseases, earlier spring arrival, plant and animal range shifts, population changes, coral reefs bleaching, downpours, heavy snowfalls, droughts and fires, affected agriculture and even precipitation or rainfall would all be affected badly. Even a winter day in Buffalo, New York which used to be cold with snow and rain, has now became sunny and mild with the effects of Global Warming.

However, are all these happenings bad or actually good for us mankind? To many, this may seem bad, but to colder countries, when it becomes warmer from the effect of Global Warming, there could be more agriculture activities there. Doesn’t this mean more food for us? Icebergs in the Artic Ocean are melting, which means ships can pass through, without any danger of colliding with icebergs and having a major accident. Isn’t all these good at all?

Nevertheless, we should try to salvage these problems and save our Earth. People can help by driving energy efficient cars, which means no to Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV), using electrical appliances which are more energy efficient such as energy saving light bulbs, and also planting more trees, which helps to cool our Earth and “replace” our carbon dioxide with oxygen, which is needed for survival. Even a properly inflated tire could help as it could prevent a release of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide. Not forgetting the three ‘R’s, which are taught in schools, the action of reusing, reducing, and recycling. These actions can help us greatly if used at the right place and right time.

Countries have already been trying to help. This is our Earth and we should take care of it. Does Global Warming mean the end of the world, or doomsday for us? Its all up to us now, if we do not act now, no one can help us. It is your choice whether or not you want to help Earth.

the last dot :
6:26 PM

Sunday, January 20, 2008

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