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Greenhouse Gases
Increased greenhouse gases will have a significant effect on the earth in the coming 10-20 years. Greenhouse gases are emitted through a number of activities, including the combustion of fossil fuels and from the flatulence of livestock. The gases rise in the atmosphere and form a layer that traps heat into the lower levels of the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect results in a warming of the surface-level air, which causes an increase in temperature. The greenhouse effect also spurs a feedback loop in which polar ice melts, reducing the ability of the earth to cool itself. Also, when subarctic tundra melts due to the increased temperature, it releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, further accelerating the warming.
The melting of the sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic regions is one of the most significant outcomes of increased greenhouse gases. This is already occurring, and the Arctic could experience its first entirely ice-free summer within the next 10-20 years. There are a number of impacts that this will have, from threatening the feeding grounds polar bears thereby putting them at , a rise is seal levels represents an existential threat not only to billions of people but also to significant portions of the infrastructure that we have developed for our world. In addition, warmer Arctic areas are changing the balance of species, with northern species becoming threatened and southern species moving into that territory.
Another significant impact of global warming is an increase in precipitation around the world, on average, and an overall change in most climates. Some areas that are currently prone to dryness will become increasingly dry. In the United States and India, this dryness threatens critical grain-growing regions. Thus, it is felt that food shortages might increase if grain harvests begin to suffer. Some areas of Russia and Canada, however, may…
Works Cited:
National Geographic. (2012). Effects of global warming. National Geographic. Retrieved October 24, 2012 from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/
NRDC. (2012). The consequences of global warming. Natural Resources Defense Council. Retrieved October 24, 2012 from http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/fcons.asp
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