The Effects and Preventions of Global Warming
Global Warming is already affecting the human kind, plants and animals in number of ways through increased ocean levels, droughts and changed weather patterns. It is well recognized by scientists around the world as a serious public health and environmental concern.
Here are 24 Effects of Global Warming on the Environment:
1. Melting of Glaciers: The melting of glaciers will create plethora of problems for human kind and the animals living on the earth. Due to increased global warming, the level of the sea will rise which will lead to flooding and this will in turn create havoc in human life. Apart from raising the sea levels, it will also endanger several species of animals and thus will hamper the balance of the ecosystem. Areas in the Arctic are diminishing away and flowing into major oceans. Rising temperatures create a much accelerated threat to wildlife and whole ecosystems in these regions. With glaciers melting at vast rates, a chain of events is being set into motion that cannot be reversed.
3. Droughts: While it may be flooding in Savannah, severe drought is happening elsewhere in the world. As temperatures warm, the presence of drought has increased in the western U.S. Add on top of that heat waves and no precipitation, whole forests have begun to disappear including tens of millions of trees in Colorado’s Rockies. Large scale evaporation will be the major cause of droughts in many places particularly Africa. Although, it is reeling under the huge pressure of water crisis, increased global warming would further make the situation worse and will cause malnutrition.
5. Hurricanes Frequency: As the temperature of the oceans rises, hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger. With the increase in the global warming, the water in the ocean warms up and it heats up the surrounding air, creating hurricanes.
6. Rise of Sea Levels: The melting of polar ice-caps and less water evaporating into the atmosphere are causing increased sea levels. Quaint coastal towns and cities near the U.S. east coast and Gulf of Mexico are just a few areas where devastating flood damage is starting to make its mark in history.
7. Agriculture: Global warming can affect agriculture. Although the results are not visible yet, but it may show it’s effects in years to come. As the global temperature will increase, plants will find it harder to survive and will die. Plants are the major source of food for human beings and as a result food shortage may occur. The shortage of the food may lead to war and conflicts in some countries.
8. Heat Waves: If you thought last summer’s headlines of record changing temperature was mind blowing, just wait. Because of greenhouse gases and other causes, unexpected streaks of severe weather are just the tips of the iceberg in global warming. Heat waves cause dangerously hot weather and in recent years, more deaths have occurred due to heat waves than in the last sixty years.
9. Frequent Wildfires: While wildfires are a natural occurrence, with the added carbon dioxide in the air, and hotter summers, the evidence speaks for itself. More frequent wildfires continue to surface in vast amounts each year. The rate at which they burn is longer than the last, and with the release of carbon dioxide into the air, not only are people’s lives in danger, but wildlife severely suffers. Each time a wildfire burns, the less oxygen there is to combat the dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
10. Severe Precipitation: Not only is there insurmountable scientific evidence that global warming is increasing, certain types of events, including extreme precipitation is on the rise. Global warming also creates conditions that can lead to more powerful hurricanes and summer storms. Cities and towns on the coast, where sea levels are already rising, face even more challenges as precipitation poses severe flooding.
11. Longer/Shorter Seasons: Are you a lover of fall? Maybe spring is your favorite season. Whatever weather and climate you enjoy, it could be happening sooner and shorter, or later and longer. Global warming affects show spring is occurring 10 days sooner than it has in the past. While it may be nice to go from snow pants to shorts sooner, this could cause flooding from reservoirs filling too soon, and droughts were there’s not enough precipitation to provide adequate nourishment for crops. 12. Crops: If seasons are changing, weather patterns are going berserk, and flooding is occurring due to rising sea levels, our crops are barely getting a fighting chance. Once the food processing industry goes haywire, the economy will really start getting interesting. The price of staple crops could sky rocket causing major inflation and more economic woes.
13. Oceans: It’s reported that coral reefs are continuing to see diminished presence in the ocean due to global warming. Temperature changes affect more than what’s happening on our lands. Once coral reefs are affected, entire ecosystems that thrive become obsolete.
14. Food Chain: Change the time and seasons and birds are flying south for winter sooner, hibernation takes longer, and a whole series of events is set in motion for complete collapse of animal life. The entire food chain could be disrupted and enormous consequences could follow.
15. Health Risks: As more carbon dioxide is trapped in the atmosphere, breathable air becomes harder to come by. If global warming continues, the U.S. is looking at 60 billion dollars to combat respiratory diseases and symptoms.
16. Animal Extinction: Nature’s best is beautifully displayed in every nook of planet earth-the majestic lion, to the humble deer. Imagine whole populations where animals can no longer thrive. With such a vast eruption in the animal kingdom, our own world becomes in danger.
17. Quality of Life: If doing simple things like taking a walk outside or working in your garden, become unenjoyable due to severe heat waves, think of the quality of life on a much larger scale. With rising global temperature, even the smallest things we took for granted will be sorely missed.
18. Economic Collapse: Who knows how badly the economy could get with decreased vitality of crops, productions, and manufacturing items. Without having nature on our side, the food industry will fall apart. Without the resources to feed the world, manufacturing will collapse. Hunger will be our biggest battle.
19. Air Quality: As more chain of events are set in motion, air quality will continue to get worse. As bad as it is now in some areas in the world, multiply that by a million.
20. Decreased Population: If global warming goes unchecked, it’s estimated the world’s human population would decrease by 75 percent. With the increasing severity of storms, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires, natural disasters would diminish half of the earth’s population. Another 25 percent would succumb to air related illnesses, starvation, and poverty.
21. Human Extinction: What little would remain of the earth as we know it, would be a sliver. The rest of the human population would have to find and implement alternative energy on a consistent and regulated basis. It’s hard to imagine, but each of these events affects another event. Pretty soon, the domino effect will reach home. There’s plenty that can be done to guarantee these effects won’t become earth’s ultimate fate
22. Going off the Grid: If you can’t stand to go without power during a thunderstorm, imagine our whole electrical infrastructure going off the grid. With the current threat of increasing storms and violent aftermaths of hurricanes and tropical storms, it would only take a few hits to crumble our electrical system.
23. Fresh Water: Our fresh water supply will great diminish with global warming. With the demise of coral reefs and the ecosystems therein, less fresh water will flow into lakes and tributaries.
24. Disappearing Countries: Countries like Greenland are deteriorating at a highly elevated rate. Beautiful cities, even continents could one day be part of a vast sea.
Here are 35 Ways to Prevent Global Warming
Here are 35 common sense, yet practical and easy ways to stop or prevent global warming and not have to seek colonization on another planet.
1. Replace Regular Incandescent Light bulb: Replace regular incandescent light bulb with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. They consume 70% less energy then ordinary bulbs and have longer lifetime.
2. Drive Less or Carpool: By driving less you are not only saving fuel but also helping in reducing global warming. Also, look out for other possibilities, for e.g.: car pooling. If you have colleagues who live in the same area then you can combine trips. If you need to go to a local market then either walk or go by cycle. Both of them are great form of exercise. The biggest pollution emitting fumes are caused by oil and gasoline. Cutting down consumption, is a huge step to reducing energy wastes.
3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Reduce your need to buy new products or use less, resulting in a smaller amount of waste. Even if you need to buy, consider buying eco-friendly products. It is most effective of the three R’s. It simply says cut back from where are you now.
Reuse bottles, plastic containers, and other items bought at the grocery store. Reusing water bottles, yogurt cups, bread ties, and other items is being conscious about what is already out there. It will lessen having to purchase other items that would fulfill the same function. Try to use the disposable products into some other form. Just don’t throw them away.
Recycling unwanted paper, bottles, etc…is a great earth saving tip. If possible, upcycle tables, furniture, and other outdated items to keep landfills clean. You can recycle almost anything for e.g.: paper, aluminum foils, cans, newspapers. By recycling you can help in reducing landfills .
4. Go Solar: Many people have caught the energy efficient band wagon of solar energy. Having solar panels installed is something readily possible and available. Incentives and discounts given by government agencies and energy companies make solar energy something to look into.
5. Buy Energy-Efficient Appliances: Always buy products that are energy efficient as they can help you save good amount of money on your energy bill. Energy-efficient products can help you to save energy, save money and reduce your carbon footprint.
6. Reduce Waste: Landfills are the major contributor of methane and other greenhouse gases. When the waste is burnt, it release toxic gases in the atmosphere which result in global warming. Reusing and recycling old items can significantly reduce your carbon footprint as it takes far less energy to recycle old items than to produce items from scratch.
7. Use Less Hot Water: Buy energy saving geysers and dishwasher for your home. Avoid washing clothes in hot water. Just wash them in cold or warm water. Avoid taking frequent showers and use less hot water. It will help in saving energy require to produce that energy.
8. Avoid Products With Lot of Packaging: Just don’t buy products with lot of packaging. When you buy such products you will end up in throwing the waste material in the garbage, which then will help in filling landfill sites and pollute the environment. Also, discourage others from buying such products.
9. Install a Programmable Thermostat: A programmable thermostat doesn’t cost much and its cost can be recovered from the amount that you save by reducing energy. The easiest and most cost effective advice is simply adjusting your thermostat up 1 degree down in the winter and up by 1 degree in the summer. Lower your thermostat 2 degrees in the winter. Instead of making your home a burning furnace, try putting on extra layers.
10. Turn Off the Lights: Duh! If you’re not using a room, there’s no need for the light to be on.
11. Turn off Electronic Devices: Turn off electronic devices when you are moving out for a couple of days or more. Unnecessary usage of electronic appliances will not only save fuel i.e. coal by which we get electricity but also increase the lifetime of your gadgets.
12. Plant a Tree: Planting trees can help much in reducing global warming then any other method. They not only give oxygen but also take in carbon dioxide, during the process of photosynthesis, which is the main source of global warming.
13. Use Clean Fuel: Electric, smart cars, cars run on vegetable oil, etc…are great examples for using renewable energy. Supporting companies that provide these products will help the rest of the mainstream manufacturing companies convert over.
14. Look for Renewable Fuel Options: If you can’t afford an electric car, buy the cleanest gasoline as possible. When car shopping, look at the benefits of options that provide renewable fuel. Although it may be a pretty penny now, you’re on the ground level of forward thinking.
15. Save Energy: When you consume less, the less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Setting your thermostat using your smart phone or changing the type of light bulb you use is a great start.
16. Replace Filters on Air Conditioner and Furnace: If you haven’t, not only are you wasting energy, but breathing in dirty air. Cleaning a dirty air filter can save several pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
17. Go Green: Using energy star appliances will not only save money, but also the amount of energy wasted in your home. Have a look at various ways to go green.
18. Tune Your Car Regularly: Regular maintenance will help your car function properly and emit less carbon dioxide.
19. Download Earth Saving Apps: Apps like Kil-Ur-Watts and Wiser EMS not only help calculate your energy costs, but provide tools and ways to save energy and money.
20. Conserve Water: This is a tired tip, but ever so important. If we added up the water wasted by the millions of Americans brushing their teeth, we could provide water to more than 23 nations with unclean, drinking water. Remember, it takes energy to draw and filter water from underground.
Taking a quick 5 minute shower will greatly conserve energy. The type of shower head used, will also aid in combating global warming. Take showers instead of baths. Showers use less water than baths by 25%. Over the course of a year that’s hundreds of gallons saved.
21. Stop Idling Your Car: It might be freezing outside, but unless your car is buried in snow, start your car as usual. It may take longer to warm up, but the world isn’t just about you.
22. Eat Less Hamburger: Besides carbon dioxide, methane introduced into the air contributes to global warning. With meat consumed by the seconds, the amount of cows breathing out methane is a huge contributor, thanks to our carnivorous diet and the billion-dollar meat industry.
23. Use Clothesline to Dry Your Clothes: Think of your grandmother when you do this. Most clothes shouldn’t be put in the dryer anyway.
24. Eat Naturally: Not only do the health benefits speak wonders for those who eat naturally, but it cuts down the energy costs used by factories who produce processed food.
25. Ride Your Bike: Not only is bike riding, healthy it reduces the amount of CO2 released into the air. Walking is another easy way to reduce global warming.
26. Use a Kitchen Cloth Instead of Paper Towels: Paper towels produce nothing but wasted energy. Think of the factory pollution, as well as the tree consumption.
27. Reuse Towels: Hang towels to dry, instead of popping them back in the wash after a few uses.
28. Check Your Tires: When you drive make sure your tires are inflated properly. If not, then your vehicle might consume more fuel which in turn release more CO2 in the atmosphere. Keep your engine properly tuned and drive less aggressively. Aggressive driving and frequent applying of brakes hampers the engine and can even lower the mileage of your car.
29. Take Lunch in a Tupperware: Each time you throw away that brown paper sack, more brown paper sacks are being produced in a factory as we speak.
30. Wrap your water heater in insulation: By keeping the energy in the water heater condensed, less energy is emitted into the air. This not only helps the earth, but your pocketbook.
31. Get Home Energy Audit Done: Call a home energy audit company and get an audit done for your home that will help you to identify areas that consume lot of energy and are not energy efficient at all.
32. Become Part of the Global Warming Community: Connecting with others will help you become more conscious of the impact we all have. The Climate Change National Forum and Global Humanitarian Forum are great avenues to know the latest facts, statistics, and efforts in making a difference.
33. Actually celebrate Arbor Day and Earth day: Although most of us hear about these days in passing, see what the buzz is all about. Plant a tree, pick up trash, or join a forum.
34. Become Aware of Your Contribution: With technology within your fingertips, finding information about protecting the environment is everywhere. To help emit less CO2, the first step is being aware of how much you contribute.
35. Spread the Awareness: Always try your best to educate people about global warming and it’s causes and after affects. Tell them how they can contribute their part by saving energy that will be good for the environment. Gather opportunities and establish programs that will help you to share information with friends, relatives and neighbors.
Comments
Post a Comment