Download “The Dangers of Global Warming,” by Ana Martinez

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Ana Martinez
Professor Warnberg
English 1301
22 March 2017
The Dangers of Global Warming
Global warming is a controversial topic, which is widely debated amongst the public. Many argue
that global warming does not exist, but scientist oppose. Scientist state that global warming is the gradual
warming of the earth’s atmosphere, and can be seen through the climate change. Global warming exists,
and causes a major impact to the atmosphere. Although human activities has produced global warming;
human life is greatly affected, and solutions must be considered, to slow or stop global warming.
Since climate change happens over a significant amount of years, it can be quite difficult to
measure it over a human’s life span. Scientists must measure weather conditions over a long period of
time, often 50-100 years, to measure climate. Current weather conditions, gathered through these
measurements, are then compared to the previous time period’s measurements to distinct climate
change. In the article “Global Warming 101,” Amanda MacMillan stated “Over the past 50 years, the
average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts see the
trend is accelerating: All but one of the 16 hottest years in NASA’s 134-year record have occurred since
2000.” Climate change is caused by multiple human activities; these activities has increased greenhouse
gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the Earth's atmosphere, according to “Global
Warming and Its Health Impact,” an article by Antonella Rossati.
Global warming presents a serious issue to earth, and its atmosphere. “The effects of rising
temperature include soil degradation, loss of productivity of agricultural land, desertification, loss of
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biodiversity, degradation of ecosystems, reduced fresh-water resources, acidification of the oceans, and
the disruption and depletion of stratospheric ozone. All these have an impact on human health, causing
non-communicable diseases such as injuries during natural disasters, malnutrition during famine, and
increased mortality during heat waves due to complications in chronically ill patients.” As stated in the
article “Global Warming and Its Health Impact,” by Antonella Rossati, global warming can reduce the
availability of water and affect agriculture resources, diminish arable land, increase pollution, induce
toxicity in the substances in the food chain, and create habitats suitable to the transmission of human and
animal pathogens.
Although humans play a major role in the production of global warming; people can still reduce
the weather conditions produced by global warming. Reducing the levels of the greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere can stable weather conditions. Greenhouse gases are affected by carbon dioxide from trees,
the burning of fossil fuels, methane from decomposed waste, and the purifying and distributing of water.
Planting more trees can decrease global warming. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen,
allowing for them to build their own tissues and return some of it to the soil in a process called
sequestration. This helps regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Burning fossil fuels has increased the levels
of greenhouse gas levels. Using less energy, or alternative energy sources like solar and wind power can
ease the burning of fossil fuels. Also, Decomposing waste in landfills creates methane and other
greenhouse gases. Recycling plastic, glass, metal, and paper lowers greenhouse gas emissions, since
recycled items take less energy to manufacture. Cities can also consume vast amounts of energy when
distributing and purifying water, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Saving water can reduce
the amount of energy used.
Global warming is a real and dangerous threat to human life, and earth’s atmosphere. Realizing
that the threat is evident can be beneficial for creating a halt to global warming. Taking action is crucial
for human life.
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Works Cited
Bradford, Alina. "What Is Global Warming?" Live Science, Live Science Contributor, 15 Dec. 2014,
www.livescience.com/37003-global-warming.html.
MacMillan, Amanda. "Global Warming 101." Our Stories Q&A, 11 Mar. 2016,
www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017
Rossati, Antonella. "Global Warming and Its Health Impact." International Journal of Occupational &
Environmental Medicine, vol. 8, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 7-20. EBSCOhost
Science Daily. www.sciencedaily.com/terms/global_warming_controversy.htm.
Accessed 23 Mar. 2017.