Warren Whitaker
The term “global warming” has been widely used by both politicians and scientists around the globe. Often used as a way to divide the American people, global warming is a worldwide issue that should bring the world’s citizens together. While many people in the United States like to argue about whether global warming is “real,” many others aren’t sure what the term really means.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s “Global Warming 101” article by Amanda MacMillan and Jeff Turrentine, (https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101) the annual temperature has risen by about two degrees Fahrenheit at global level since the industrial revolution. The article also said that the official and accurate record of annual global temperature began in 1880 and recorded that the average annual temperature increased by 0.07 degrees Celsius every ten years. However, since 1981, this number has since doubled. The global annual temperature has risen by 0.18 degrees Celsius every ten years since 1981. It found that nine of the warmest ten years since accurate records of global temperatures began in 1880 were since 2005 .
It is no secret that a direct result of global warming is climate change. According to the United Nations (https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change), limiting global warming can greatly reduce the effects of climate change on our environment. Human activity (including the use of fossil fuels that increase greenhouse gas emissions) has greatly increased the global temperature because these activities trap heat from the earth’s surface like a blanket. This causes climate change, which is essentially a change in the planet’s weather patterns as a result of global warming. “Consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe wildfires, rising sea levels, floods, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity,” the United Nations link states.
Chart courtesy of EPA (https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions)
However, the effects of global warming on the climate go far beyond natural disasters and changes in weather patterns. According to the United Nations (https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change), climate change also creates food shortages, species loss, more health risks , as well as poverty and displacement across the globe. While many people believe that global warming is not an immediate problem, the direct effects on the weather as well as life on Earth show that global warming is already affecting our livelihoods.
An example of the many weather phenomena caused by climate change.
Global warming has had a big impact on our planet, especially our climate. Now that global warming is starting to become our reality and no longer a problem for “our grandchildren,” the question remains: What can we do to combat the effects of global warming on our climate? Stopping the rapid spread of deforestation would be a big step in the right direction in reducing the amount of carbon in the air. According to the Nature Conservancy, plants consume a lot of carbon from the air that causes global warming. “What we do between now and 2030 will determine whether we can slow warming enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change. We need to drastically reduce emissions and get some carbon out of the atmosphere. Fortunately, plants naturally absorb and store carbon. By protecting natural habitats and carefully managing farmland and forests, we can store billions of tons of this “living carbon,” according to the Nature Conservancy’s official website. (https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle-climate-change/) They go into detail in their YouTube video titled “A Natural Solution to Climate Change “.
The development of electric vehicles, the planting of more trees and carbon-absorbing plants, and the initiative of the governments of some of the world’s greatest powers on the planet would all help to stop the spread of global warming before it is too late.
Graphic highlighting ways to stop the spread of global warming, courtesy of the phys.org article “State-of-the-art climate model shows how we can solve the crisis.”
Global warming is a very serious and real problem. Our planet is slowly dying and it is a direct result of the actions of the very life forms that live on Earth. Scientific evidence and studies have proven time and time again that we are already experiencing global warming and we as humans must act quickly before we reach the point of irreversible damage. The planet is crying out for help. It is up to us to decide whether we want to listen to him or not.
Works cited
April 07, 2021 Amanda MacMillan Jeff Turrentine. “Global Warming 101”. NRDC18 Oct. 2022, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101.
“Causes and Effects of Climate Change.” United NationsUnited Nations, https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change.
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“Effects of Climate Change”. National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/climate/climate-change-impacts.
“Climate Change Indicators: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions”. EPAEnvironmental Protection Agency, April 2021, https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions.
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Nature Conservancy, Director. A natural solution to climate change. YouTube, The Nature Conservancy, 23 Sept. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4eE9Fqu1yE. Accessed November 23, 2022.
“Our Priorities: Tackling Climate Change.” Conservation of NatureThe Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle-climate-change/.
“Overview: Weather, Global Warming and Climate Change.” GODMOTHERNASA, 26 Sept. 2022, https://climate.nasa.gov/global-warming-vs-climate-change/.
University of Technology, Sydney. “State-of-the-art climate model shows how we can solve the crisis.” Phys.orgPhys.org, 21 Jan. 2019, https://phys.org/news/2019-01-state-of-the-art-climate-crisis.html.
“What is climate change?” United NationsUnited Nations, https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change.