Global warming has been a highly debated topic for quite a bit of time now. Is it or is it not happening? Global warming is an increase of temperature that causes related changes in climate and the environment. This has been seen in Antarctica especially. The change of temperature in Antarctica due to global warming has had many effects on wildlife and the environment already.
Effects of Global Warming on Walruses When people talk about global warming, they think of the polar ice caps being melted and humans causing too much pollution in the air from various activities. It is actually an overall increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface caused by gases being trapped in the atmosphere by the “greenhouse effect” [3]. From the North down to the South Pole temperatures are rising and the world is heating up fast. This has caused many changes in the nature of things. One such victim of the change in our climate is a pinniped most commonly known as the walrus.
First, the melting of ice caps and glaciers is releasing water into the oceans. Second, human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, combined with natural activities, it causes the rise of the earth's surface temperature.3 Second, climate change is already having a serious effect on every continent and throughout the world’s ocean. The consequences of sea level rise mainly reflected in three aspects: cultural heritages, indigenous communities and coastal lands. 4 First, sea level rise threats cultural world heritage. Data shows that 136 out of 700 listed cultural heritages throughout the world will be affected in the long term.
The climate changes have rapidly increased in the years passed and they continue to increase. This is bringing more and more fear into the lives of people throughout the world. Many animal species have started to die off due to the changes in their environment. For example, polar bears live in the arctic and thrive off of the cold temperatures. Since the temperatures have started to rise, the ice that they once lived on has melted and they are having a very difficult time surviving.
The Earth’s average temperature has risen 0.6°C, while areas in the Arctic have risen up to 3.0°C in the last 20th century (Gardiner, 2008). Increasing temperatures have already caused changes in the Arctic such as; sea ice covering the Arctic has decreased in area and thickness due to melting of ice and snow, the warming of permafrost, snow cover area has also decreased, and ice on the rivers will freeze later during fall and break up earlier in spring. But why are these Polar Regions more vulnerable to climate change? This is due to the light colour of snow and ice and high albedo, which reflects the solar energy back into space. Due to the increase in greenhouse gases less solar energy is reflected back into space and more solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth causing the increase in ice and snow melting (Main & Ahlenius, 2011).
It would change our climate, but it would not bring us close to the level of uninhabitable Venus. A doubling in CO2 levels would make agriculture much more difficult due to shifts in climate that occur as a result of increasing temperature. CO2 can indeed cause a significant degree of warming if it is suddenly released into the atmosphere, as we have been doing for the past 150 years. Aside from that, increasing temperature can also cause the rising of sea level as the glaciers are going to melt at a faster rate like never before. Next, is the change in environmental health.
I will be covering the aspects, causes and effects of Global Warming. There are many definitions of Global Warming. One of these is that “ Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate.”(EPA) The temperature increase can lead to changes in the average rainfall results, the sea levels can rise, and it may have many impacts on wildlife, plants of humans. The Global Warming is mainly cause by humans. The Green House Effects is one of the main causes of this warming.
A huge issue is the rising of sea levels, due to the increase in global temperatures. There are many factors linked with this causing the sea level rise, one of which being the thermal expansion of the water. As the temperature of the sea water increases, so will the volume of the water, and as such, the water occupies more space, meaning the mean sea levels will rise. (National Geographic, n.d.) Approximately half of the sea level rise in the past 100 years is attributed to thermal expansion of the water. Furthermore, more and more ice from glaciers and polar ice caps is melting during summer, and not being balanced back out in winter months.
It’s very important to know that the majority of recent emerging diseases have a wildlife origin. As a result, there is a need to improve the way we identify, prevent, and respond to climate-related threats. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that high rates of climate change will result in increased global temperatures. Scientists suspect that increasing temperatures, in combination with changes in rainfall and humidity, may have large effects on wildlife and humans diseases.
Global warming not only affects the darker suntan you get each summer, but the winters, the sea level, and the natural environment delicately teetering on the current balance of temperature. One of the largest concerns, the rapid mass loss of Greenland’s icecap, points to faster flow of glaciers and surface melting that will inevitably lead to warmer oceans, less salty oceans, a raise in sea level, and potential climate changes. Greenland is reported to be melting at double the speed it was only some years back. The slow yet steady flow of glaciers towards the sea has transformed into a sudden surge forward, alarming researchers who predicted a slower shrinkage. An increase in precipitation on the inside, along with continual high temperatures has cause the snow to melt, and serving as a run off that not only adds to the ocean level, but acts as a lubricant for glaciers to slide faster.