McGuckin 1

Emily McGuckin
Professor W. Brown
Rhetoric and Composition
22 April 2015
No More Land on Earth
Introduction
In 2015, the human race has made some amazing technological advances. Although
humans are not riding around in flying cars like the ones seen in Back to the Future, they do have
luxury cars, boats and airplanes, televisions for every room in the house and phones that can talk
to them. Unfortunately, because of these advances they also have a warmer climate and a more
unprotected Earth. Every year, humans create 2.5 billion tons of the carbon dioxide pollution
("An Introduction to Climate Change." para. 1). This pollution comes from gasoline that run their
cars, boats and airplanes, from fossil fuels and coal that run their televisions and from industrial
plants that make their iPhones. These emission along with some other forms of pollution are
rising into the Earths atmosphere and creating a blanket which traps heat from the sun in the
Earths lower atmosphere, heating up the Earth and its inhabitants.
This heating up of the Earth is known as global warming. Although, a warmer Earth does
not seem like a terrible ordeal, it eventually will become one. Some people might even think
warmer summers would be nice. But, the Earth will not only just get warmer, there are horrible
long term consequences of global warming. Imagine the green rainforests teeming with life, the
purple majestic mountains, the polar ice caps and the polar bears and the sparkling blue ocean
filled with amazing creatures. Its beautiful, right? Unfortunately, at the rate that the climate is
changing, global warming can make it all disappear. Every animal in every biome is being
negatively affected, including humans. Humans need to take more intensive actions against
global warming or the Earth and its inhabitants, both aquatic and terrestrial, will suffer the
consequences of global warming that humans have created.
Background

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Global warming has been a big issue in the news lately. But, this topic is not as new as it
may seem. It has been around since 1827 when Jean- Baptist Fourier first addressed it (Climate
Change 251). Since then, this topic disappeared for a while, but its back at the forefront of the
news. Because this is such a talked about topic, some of the information that is given is either
misunderstood or misconstrued. For example, the Greenhouse Effect, greenhouse gases and
global warming all go hand in hand, but many people do not understand why and how. The
Greenhouse Effect is a phenomenon that is creating a blanket of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere which is trapping the solar rays from the sun inside of the Earths lower atmosphere.
The term greenhouse gases has a negative connation, but these gases can be natural as well as
man-made. Some natural greenhouse gases include water vapor, natural CO2, and methane. These
gases have been around since the beginning of Earth and they are adding to the Greenhouse
Effect, albeit very little compared to the anthropogenic additions.
Matter cannot be created nor destroyed. So the carbon that humans use in their everyday
lives is not disappearing, but rather it is being added to the atmosphere. This carbon originally
came from deposits in the Earth and it being taken to power things like cars and give people
electricity. But, once it is in the atmosphere, it is much harder to move from there. This is why
the blanket is being produced.
Opposition
Most humans do acknowledge that global warming is an event that is currently occurring.
But, it is not a problem that humans need to worry about too much. Weather patterns and
occurrences are not any different now than they were 50 years ago. It still snows in the winter
and gets hot in the summer. The flowers bloom and the snow melts in the spring and the leaves
change color and then fall off the trees in the fall. The United States still see seasons like those
and they also see snow as Senator Jim Inhofe pointed out at a February Senate meeting. The

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Republican Senator from Oklahoma brought with him a snowball to disprove climate change.
Naturally, if it is still snowing then the world must not actually be getting warmer. In fact, the
temperature has only risen 0.6 C in the last hundred years (Walther et al. para. 2). So, within the
next hundred years the temperature will only rise 1.2 C. That is almost nothing in terms of
climate change.
Global warming is not a problem because terrestrial and marine organisms are not
showing any signs of distress. Animals are usually the first to know when something is about to
happen. They show that there is something coming before even humans know. When rain is
imminent, cows tend to sit down. Some animals can sense earthquakes that are about to happen.
Others know when thunderstorms are coming. But, animals have not done anything unusual to
indict that they know something humans do not. There are animals still living in the polar and
tropical regions of the world. Melting ice at the poles is a normal occurrence and has been
happening for years, but polar bears and seals are still able to live there. The tropical waters also
have very high temperatures in the summer, but organisms will continue to live there, too. And if
the water temperatures become too high, the animals just evolve and be able to handle the
changes. Global warming is not a problem that people should worry about because all signs
indict that the Earth is fine and will continue to be fine. Although, the Earth might not verbally
being crying out for help, its denizens are and only humans can aid them.
Argument
There has been skepticism about how detrimental global warming really is to the Earth
and its inhabitants. People do believe that global warming is a large problem, but many do not
realize the enormity of it and how it will affect them in the not-so-distant future. Global warming
is an extremely important and severe problem that concerns all living organism on the Earth. Its

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affects can be seen everywhere, in every continent and every region of the world. It can be seen
in changing weather patterns and in terrestrial and aquatic biomes and in the organisms that live
in those biomes. But, how people interpret this information can affect whether they truly believe
that global warming and climate change are problems. With a better understanding of global
warming and correct information, people can not only become more aware, but can also attempt
to reverse the effects that it has had on the Earth and its citizens.
Global Warming is a problem that humans should care about. It is affecting them now and
will continue to affect them for hundreds of years, but within 50 years the Earth that humans
know now will be completely different. Global warming is affecting terrestrial biomes and the
people who live there. There has been increased precipitation which results in more intense
floods and rain storms. In addition to this extra water, the polar ice caps are melting. The
majority of the heat trapped inside of the Earth is being absorbed by the Polar Regions and the
ice caps because they have the greatest temperature difference. This is raising the ocean levels
and some people are already feeling the effects. The Kiribati Islands, which are located in the
Pacific Ocean, are almost completely submerged. The inhabitants of the islands are being
evacuated to different locations because of the receding terrestrial areas. As the polar ice caps are
melting, polar bears have been moving closer to people because they do not have enough ice to
live on in the Polar Regions. Although the polar bears are not often very violent towards humans,
it is much more dangerous because of the close quarter. Humans might not physically see what
global warming is doing, but it is affecting them nonetheless.
Global warming is also allowing diseases to more rapidly reproduce and evolve, harming
both humans and animals that live within the same ecosystems (Harvell et al. para. 1). This is
happening because of the hotter temperatures which allow diseases to manifest faster. Some

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diseases that were controlled, like human cholera, are becoming uncontrollable (Harvell et al.
para. 20). More cases of cholera have been seen recently in both humans and animals,
concerning many people. Diseases are able to affect food more easily because of their abundance
due to the increased temperatures. This is leading to a shortage of food for people and animals.
But, diseases are not only affecting terrestrial biomes. They are also very negatively affecting
aquatic biomes, specifically the coral reefs. Coral reefs are beautiful and delicate ecosystems
found in the temperate waters of the world. But, because of the plethora of diseases making their
way into the oceans, coral reefs are bleaching and dying (Pandolfi et al. para. 6). Diseases are
obviously extremely dangerous, but with the increased number of diseases, due to warmer
climates, everyone is extremely susceptible to them. This includes children, the elderly, dogs,
cats and every other organism on Earth.
Diseases will affect individual people, but natural disasters will affect communities.
Natural disasters are becoming more extreme weather phenomenons. Even though it is still
snowing, it does not disprove global warming. Blizzard are not going to disappear because of an
increase in temperature, but rather become more extreme as are all other weather events.
Hurricanes, floods, and tornados are becoming more frequent weather occurrences and more
intense. 2005 was the most active hurricane season ever recorded. This was only 10 years ago.
There were 28 cyclones and 15 hurricanes, three of which were category 5 hurricanes (Garrison
252). Hurricane Katrina and Wilma both occurred in 2005, two of the worst natural disasters
seen. Hurricane Sandy of 2011 was also devastating to the East Coast, affecting people in many
ways. Many lost their homes, some lost their possessions, and a couple people lost their lives.
But, these are not the worst that hurricanes could be. There could be many more Sandys and
many storms worse than Sandy in the coming years (Stirling 1). This is concerning, considering

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the damage that Sandy, Wilma and Katrina did. If global warming continues on the track that it is
on, hurricanes like Sandy could be small potatoes compared to what might come. Droughts will
be worse, killing farm animals, crops, and even people. Water reserves will be depleted quickly
and become scarce. Worse natural disasters are why humans need to worry about global warming
because they will definitely affect them in a very negative way.
The trapped heat in the atmosphere is not only making the air temperature rise and cause
problems on land, but also the ocean temperatures. Warmer oceans temperatures might not seem
too dangerous. In fact, it is actually making the oceans more acidic, hurting and killing many
aquatic organisms. Of the carbon dioxide that is released by humans about 26% of it makes its
way into the oceans and rivers. Annually, this adds up to about 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide
that dissolves into the ocean, released by humans (Monroe 1). This added carbon dioxide is
making the ocean waters more acidic. It is affecting the oceans and all the aquatic organisms are
feeling the effects, either directly or indirectly. Because primary producers and primary
consumers, like krill, are so miniscule, the smallest change in acidity is felt tenfold. This is
affecting animals, like whales, that are higher up on the food chain. Coral reefs, which are very
important ecosystems, are bleaching due to ocean acidification. Marine organisms that create
calcium carbonate shells are having trouble because of the more acidic ocean. Their shells and
skeletons are becoming weaker, so they are not as protected from predators as they once were.
Solution
Global warming is an enormous problem, hurting humans who can save themselves and
animals and plants that cannot. There are many terrible things happening to the organisms on
Earth which are mentioned above. But, those problem are akin to the last domino in this Domino
Effect. These things are happening because of the greenhouse gas blanket that is trapping solar

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heat within the Earths atmosphere. Scientists are working on ways to reverse the effects of
global warming, in terms of helping animals and ecosystems. But, people can do things to slow
down the effects that global warming has had on the Earth and its denizens. Things like turning
off the lights in rooms that are not being used or unplugging things when they are not being used.
This could save electricity and fossil fuels which are always adding to the blanket. Turning off
the water when it is not being used and taking shorter showers will also help. People can drive
electric cars, which can greatly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being released by cars.
Solar panels are also extremely helpful, because the suns energy is plentiful and powerful. Many
larger corporations are attempting to reduce their carbon footprint. Stockton University have
water saving toilets, which save energy each time the toilets are flushed properly and reduces
their footprint. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon that a person, company or corporation
adds to the Greenhouse Effect. Scientists are always looking for ways to reduce the greenhouse
gas emissions. Although the future looks pretty grim at the moment, we can save the Earth, the
people and the animals. We can keep the beautiful land on Earth and the magnificent oceans if
we do some small things to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

Conclusion
Global warming has been acknowledged by the politicians and scientists of the world.
But, it needs to be seen for what it is by everyone. Global warming is a much bigger problem
than people believe. For the majority of people, seeing is believing and since they cannot see
global warming, they do not realize the enormity of the problem. It will not only affect people
immensely within the next 50 years, but is hurting people and animals right now. People on
islands in the Pacific Ocean are being forced to evacuate their homes due to rising sea levels.

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Californians are experiencing a terrible drought and might continue to feel droughts for years to
come. Animals are dying because they are losing their food sources or their means of protection
from predators. The helpless are suffering, while the ones that can help are not. But, people can
change it too, there is hope.

Works Cited
"An Introduction to Climate Change." Natural Resources Defense Council. NRDC, 1 Jan. 2011.
Web. 8 Apr. 2015.

"Climate Change." Principles of Biology. Nature, 2014. 251. Print.

Garrison, Tom. "Circulation of the Atmosphere." Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine

Science. 8th ed. Belmont: Brooks/Cole, 2013. 252. Print.

Harvell, C. D., Charles E. Mitchell, Jessica R. Ward, Sonia Altizer, Andrew P. Dobson, Richard
S. Otsfeld, and Michael D. Samuel. "Climate Warming and Disease Risks for Terrestrial
and Marine Biota." Science 296.5576 (2002): 2158-162. Science. Science. Web. 8 Apr.
2015.
Monroe, Rob. "How Much CO2 Can The Oceans Take Up." The Keeling Curve. Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, 3 July 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

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Pandolfi, J. M., S. R. Connolly, D. J. Marshall, and A. L. Cohen. "Projecting Coral Reef Futures
Under Global Warming and Ocean Acidification." Science 333.6041 (2011): 418-22.
Science. Science. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.

Stirling, Stephen. "As Bad As Hurricane Sandy Was, Hypothetical Future Storm Could Be
Worse." NJ Advance Media. NJ.com, 3 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Walther, Gian-Reto, Eric Post, Peter Convey, Annette Menzel, Camille Parmesan, Trevor J. C.
Beebee, Jean-Marc Fromentin, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, and Franz Bairlein. "Ecological
Responses To Recent Climate Change." Nature 416 (2002): 389-95. Nature. Nature.
Web. 8 Apr. 2015.