One of the biggest issues facing us right now is global warming.

Its effects on animals and

on agriculture are indeed frightening, and the effects on the human population are even scarier.
The facts about global warming are often debated in politics and the media, but, unfortunately,
even if we disagree about the causes, global warming effects are real, global, and measurable.
The causes are mainly from us, the human race, and the effects on us will be severe.

Scientists have documented the rise in average temperatures worldwide since the late 1800s.
Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) over the
past century, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Temperatures are
projected to rise another 2 to 11.5 degrees F (1.133 to 6.42 degrees C) over the next 100 years.

Most of the leading scientific organizations in the world acknowledge the existence of global
warming as fact, according to a NASA report. Furthermore, 97 percent of climate scientists
agree that the rate of global warming trends the planet is now experiencing is not a natural
occurrence, but is primarily the result of human activity. That consensus was made clear in a
major climate report released Sept. 27, 2013, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC). In that report, climate scientists indicated they are more certain than ever of the
link between human activities and global warming.

The greenhouse effect

Global warming begins with the greenhouse effect, which is caused by the interaction
between Earth's atmosphere and incoming radiation from the sun. "The basic physics of the
greenhouse effect were figured out more than a hundred years ago by a smart guy using
only pencil and paper (Svante Arrhenius in 1896)," Josef Werne, an associate professor in the
department of geology and planetary science at the University of Pittsburgh, told Live Science.

Earths natural greenhouse effect

Earths temperature begins with the Sun. Roughly 30 percent of incoming sunlight is reflected
back into space by bright surfaces like clouds and ice. Of the remaining 70 percent, most is
absorbed by the land and ocean, and the rest is absorbed by the atmosphere. The absorbed solar
energy heats our planet.
As the rocks, the air, and the seas warm, they radiate heat energy (thermal infrared radiation).
From the surface, this energy travels into the atmosphere where much of it is absorbed by water
vapor and long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
When they absorb the energy radiating from Earths surface, microscopic water or greenhouse
gas molecules turn into tiny heaters like the bricks in a fireplace, they radiate heat even after
the fire goes out. They radiate in all directions. The energy that radiates back toward Earth heats
both the lower atmosphere and the surface, enhancing the heating they get from direct sunlight.
This absorption and radiation of heat by the atmospherethe natural greenhouse effectis
beneficial for life on Earth. If there were no greenhouse effect, the Earths average surface
temperature would be a very chilly -18C (0F) instead of the comfortable 15C (59F) that it is
today.
The greenhouse effect
When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed and warms the earth and most of the
rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of
these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they
are lost to space. The absorption of this longwave radiant energy warms the atmosphere.
These greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat
energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the
atmosphere is called the "greenhouse effect".

The major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36-70% of the
greenhouse effect on Earth (not including clouds); carbon dioxide CO2, which causes 9-26%;
methane, which causes 4-9%, and ozone, which causes 3-7%. It is not possible to state that
a certain gas causes a certain percentage of the greenhouse effect, because the influences of
the various gases are not additive. Other greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to,
nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and
chlorofluorocarbons.

Global warming causes by greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (see above) act like a mirror and reflect back to the
Earth a part of the heat radiation, which would otherwise be lost to space. The higher the
concentration of green house gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more heat
energy is being reflected back to the Earth. The emission of carbon dioxide into the
environment mainly from burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, petrol, kerosene, etc.) has been
increased dramatically over the past 50 years, see graph below.

1. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel

burning power plants

Every day, more electric gadgets flood the market, and without

widespread alternative energy sources, we are highly dependent on

burning coal for our personal and commercial electrical supply.

2. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from burning

gasoline for transportation

With our population growing at an alarming rate, the demand for

more cars and consumer goods means that we are increasing the use

of fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing. Our

consumption is outpacing our discoveries of ways to mitigate the

effects, with no end in sight to our massive consumer culture.

3. Global Warming Cause: Methane emissions

from animals, agriculture such as rice paddies, and from Arctic
seabeds

The process also takes place in the intestines of herbivorous animals,

and with the increase in the amount of concentrated livestock
production, the levels of methane released into the atmosphere is
increasing. Another source of methane is methane clathrate, a
compound containing large amounts of methane trapped in the
crystal structure of ice. As methane escapes from the Arctic seabed,
the rate of global warming will increase significantly.

4. Global Warming Cause: Deforestation, especially tropical forests

for wood, pulp, and farmland

Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and
this deforestation releases large amounts of carbon, as well as
reducing the amount of carbon capture on the planet.

5. Global Warming Cause: Increase in usage of chemical fertilizers on

croplands
In the last half of the 20th century, the use of chemical fertilizers (as
opposed to the historical use of animal manure) has risen
dramatically.

6. Global Warming Effect: Rise in sea levels worldwide

Scientists predict an increase in sea levels worldwide due to the

melting of two massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland,
especially on the East coast of the U.S. However, many nations
around the world will experience the effects of rising sea levels, which
could displace millions of people. One nation, the Maldives, is already
looking for a new home, thanks to rising sea levels.

7. Global Warming Effect: More killer storms

The severity of storms such as hurricanes and cyclones is increasing,

and research published in Nature found:

Scientists have come up with the firmest evidence so far

that global warming will significantly increase the
intensity of the most extreme storms worldwide. The
maximum wind speeds of the strongest tropical cyclones
have increased significantly since 1981, according to
research published in Nature this week. And the upward
trend, thought to be driven by rising ocean temperatures,
is unlikely to stop at any time soon.

8. Global Warming Effect: Massive crop failures

According to recent research, there is a 90% chance that 3 billion

people worldwide will have to choose between moving their families
to milder climes and going hungry due to climate change within 100
years. One of the main causes of this will be the spread of
desertification, and its accompanying effects.

Climate change is expected to have the most severe

impact on water supplies. Shortages in future are likely
to threaten food production, reduce sanitation, hinder
economic development and damage ecosystems. It causes
more violent swings between floods and droughts.
Guardian: Global warming causes 300,000 deaths a
year

9. Global Warming Effect: Widespread extinction of species

According to research published in Nature, by 2050, rising

temperatures could lead to the extinction of more than a million
species. And because we cant exist without a diverse population of
species on Earth, this is scary news for humans.

This 6th mass extinction is really just a continuation of the holocene

extinction which began at the end of the last ice age and has resulted
in the extinction of nearly all of the Earths megafauna animals,
largely as a result of human-expansion.

Climate change now represents at least as great a

threat to the number of species surviving on Earth as
habitat-destruction and modification. Chris Thomas,
conservation biologist at the University of Leeds

Widespread species loss and lists of endangered species just keep

growing. This is a concerning matter on many fronts.