Environment Global Warming
Earth is where we live, it is where we build our home. Where we can
freely breath fresh air. As we only have one life and one planet to live
on at the moment, it makes sense to look after it. The environment is
also important because our actions could have a dramatic effect on other
people and other life on Earth. If we are not careful with what we are
doing to the environment, it will cause a catastrophe that can affect
the environment itself and all living things.
One of the catastrophe that are now frequently discussed among the
scientists is global warming. Global warming is a real phenomenon, and
human action is having an impact on that warming. Global warming is when
the earth heats up (the temperature rises). It happens when greenhouse
gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap
heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases
the temperature. This hurts many people, animals, and plants. Many
cannot take the change, so they die.
Global warming is affecting many parts of the world. Global warming
makes the sea rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low
land islands. This is a big problem for many of the plants, animals,
and people on islands. The water covers the plants and causes some of
them to die. When they die, the animals lose a source of food, along
with their habitat. Although animals have a better ability to adapt to
what happens than plants do, they may die also. When the plants and
animals die, people lose two sources of food, plant food and animal
food. They may also lose their homes. As a result, they would also
have to leave the area or die. This would be called a break in the food
chain, or a chain reaction, one thing happening that leads to another
and so on.
The oceans are affected by global warming in other ways, as well.
Many things that are happening to the ocean are linked to global
warming. One thing that is happening is warm water, caused from global
warming, is harming and killing algae in the ocean.
Global warming is doing many things to people as well as animals and
plants. It is killing algae, but it is also destroying many huge
forests. The pollution that causes global warming is linked to acid
rain. Acid rain gradually destroys almost everything it touches.
Global warming is also causing many more fires that wipe out whole
forests. This happens because global warming can make the earth very
hot. In forests, some plants and trees leaves can be so dry that they
catch on fire.
Many things cause global warming. One thing that causes global
warming is electrical pollution. Electricity causes pollution in many
ways, some worse than others. In most cases, fossil fuels are burned to
create electricity. Fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals.
Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum. Many pollutants
(chemicals that pollute the air, water, and land) are sent into the air
when fossil fuels are burned. Some of these chemicals are called
greenhouse gasses.
We use these sources of energy much more than the sources that give
off less pollution. Petroleum, one of the sources of energy, is used a
lot. It is used for transportation, making electricity, and making many
other things. Although this source of energy gives off a lot of
pollution, it is used for 38% of the United States’ energy.
Some other examples of using energy and polluting the air are :
- Turning on a light
- Watching T.V.
- Listening to a stereo
- Washing or drying clothes
- Using a hair dryer
- Riding in a car
- Heating a meal in the microwave
- Using an air conditioner
- Playing a video game
- Using a dish washer
When you do these things, you are causing more greenhouse gasses to
be sent into the air. Greenhouse gasses are sent into the air because
creating the electricity you use to do these things causes pollution.
If you think of how many times a day you do these things, it’s a lot.
You even have to add in how many other people do these things! That
turns out to be a lot of pollutants going into the air a day because of
people like us using electricity. The least amount of electricity you
use, the better.
When we throw our garbage away, the garbage
goes to landfills. Landfills are those big hills that you go by on an
expressway that stink. They are full of garbage. The garbage is then
sometimes burned. This sends an enormous amount of greenhouse gasses
into the air and makes global warming worse.
Another thing that makes global warming
worse is when people cut down trees. Trees and other plants collect
carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a greenhouse gas.
Carbon dioxide is the air that our body lets
out when we breathe. With fewer trees, it is harder for people to
breathe because there is more CO2 in the air, and we don’t breathe CO2,
we breathe oxygen. Plants collect the CO2 that we breathe out, and they
give back oxygen that we breathe in. With less trees and other plants,
such as algae, there is less air for us, and more greenhouse gases are
sent into the air. This means that it is very important to protect our
trees to stop the greenhouse effect, and also so we can breathe and
live.
This gas, CO2, collects light and heat
(radiant energy), produced by the sun, and this makes the earth warmer.
The heat and light from the sun is produced in the center of the sun.
(The sun has layers just like the earth.)
Now, as the people who live here on our
beloved planet Earth. We have to love our environment so we could really
maintained it from danger and harm. We need to treat the environment
with respect, if for no other reason than to ensure our own prospects
for survival.