Global Warming Crisis

Last September, I was watching a television show about the top ten ways the world might end. While some of the modernized theories included gamma ray bursts, nuclear warfare, and robots taking over the world, it shocked me to see that global warming could be the number one reason the world might end. I had never thought we were in such danger, but the occurrence of global warming can be identified by carbon-dioxide emissions/greenhouse gasses, the melting of polar ice, and the change in animals’ habitats. These three signs are leading to a global disaster that could change our lives forever.

Many animals thrived over the course of earth’s history. However, a battle for survival between animals now rages because of global warming. For example some species of flowers are sprouting earlier in the spring than before because the climate has become warmer. Likewise, the Edith’s checker spot butterfly, the Red Fox, and other animals are moving farther north to higher elevations because they prefer cooler conditions. The moving of animals may not be a bad thing; the new problem is now these animals fight with humans and other animals for survival (Rodriguez). In Alaska the melting of polar ice causes polar bears to move closer to towns where they are unfortunately shot and killed (“Global”). In a like manner, the Red Fox now pushes the Arctic Fox, which originally lived there toward the sea. Even in our waters sea anemone and starfish inhabit areas that used to be occupied by cold-water species (Rodriguez). With global warming continuing faster than ever, species near and dear to our hearts could disappear without warning.

In our world, many people don’t realize that one of the biggest causes of global warming happens to be us. We have made global warming worse than it could ever become naturally by the increase in carbon-dioxide emissions. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, we have been burning a lot of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil. The burning of natural gasses creates carbon-dioxide emissions that travel up the atmosphere and trap the sunlight. This is called the green house effect because a greenhouse similarly traps sunlight in the greenhouse to grow the plants. In the same way, the greenhouse effect on the earth has raised the earth’s temperature dramatically in the last fifty years. Therefore, our complaints about the unbearable summer temperatures over the past few years all happen to be here because of global warming.