Amani Shami

English 112 204

4/7/2019

Risks of Global Warming and Climate Change

“Climate change is no longer a far-off problem; it is happening here, and it is happening now” (Barak

Obama). There are many quotes from many different influencers all over the world, but this quote in

particular is to inform the seriousness and dangers of global warming and climate change. Many of

people are uneducated on the fact that if humans do not take charge, and change the course of global

warming right now, that all of humanity is doomed for disaster. Too much damage has been done to

mother earth, and if humanity does not act on it now, it will not matter how many trees or green are

planted, humans will be unable to repair the home they call planet earth. There are many wildlife and

plant life that are being affected by global warming; the melting of the ice caps and glaciers, instant

death of corals on the great barrier reefs, and risk of natural disaster is increasing. This report will

educate humanity on the history of global warming and climate change, and what will happen if they do

not make a change.

Global Warming has been an issue of concern for the past couple of decades. Global warming

occurs when Carbon Dioxide and other harmful chemicals reach the Earth’s atmosphere and ozone layer

and causes Earth to physically warm up (Johnson). Many of people are not educated on why and exactly

how the world warming up just a few degrees messes up the climate system. Earth acts as a ripple

effect, and if it is tempered with, or off balance just smudge, it disturbs the natural flow of life.

One thing a lot of people connect global warming with is melting of the polar ice caps and

glaciers.
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In February-March 2002, the Larsen B ice shelf - over 3000 square km (the size of Rhode

Island) and 220 m (700 feet) thick- broke up in just a few months, a story typical of nearly all

the ice shelves in Antarctica. The Larsen B shelf had survived all the previous ice ages and

interglacial warming episodes over the past 3 million years, and even the warmest periods of

the last 10,000 years- yet it and nearly all the other thick ice sheets on the Arctic, Greenland,

and Antarctic are vanishing at a rate never before seen in geologic history (Prothero)

“It was predicted thousand years ago that this would happen. It’s just inevitable with the way humans

live now and the amount of carbon dioxide that is being put out into the earth’s atmosphere”

(Prothero). Polar ice caps are literally disappearing. And it is happening at an alarming rate. The ice caps

have been solid for MILLIONS of years, and now it is breaking up so fast that by the next ten years, half

of earth’s ice could be gone (Prothero). This is causing species to die out due to not having enough food

to eat. The species that rely on the Earth’s cool temperatures and ice are polar bears, seals, penguins,

etc (Prothero).

In 2016, there was a record-breaking heat wave that caused species on the great barrier reefs to

die instantly (Cook). The ocean’s water has heated up approximately 3-4 degrees (Cook). This may not

seem like a lot, but to ocean life, it’s the difference between life and death. Corals that were affected

the most are the staghorn and tabular corals (Cook).

The increasing prevalence of post-bleaching mass mortality of corals represents a radical

shift in the disturbance regimes of tropical reefs, both adding to and far exceeding the

influence of recurrent cyclones and other local pulse events, presenting a

fundamental challenge to the long-term future of these iconic ecosystems (Cook).

Not only is the warming of the ocean making species die off, but the death of coral reefs causes an

imbalance of the ocean system and increased the chance of natural disaster such a cyclones (Cook).
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The amount of rainfall and temperatures since the 1990s, even to the early 21st century

has increased rapidly due to climate change and global warming (Investigators at University of Potsdam,

page 73). Rainfall is great for Earth, but too much can cause humans to be in a pickle. Increase of rainfall

has caused agricultural loss, and even flooding (Investigators at University of Potsdam, page 73). It is

well known that greenhouse gases have a contribution in this. A greenhouse gas is “a gas that

contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, carbon dioxide, and

chlorofluorocarbons” (Wikipedia Contributors). Greenhouse gases are a major threat to the earth and

human life. They are making changes in the Earth that is harmful to humanity. "We found traceable

evidence for 467 pathways by which human health, water, food, economy, infrastructure and security

have been recently impacted by climate hazards such as warming, heatwaves, precipitation, drought,

floods, fires, storms, sea-level rise and changes in natural land cover and ocean chemistry” (University of

Hawaii). Increase of rainfall has occurred in the last three years (Investigators at University of Potsdam,

page 73). “This increase in record-breaking rainfall is explained by a statistical model which accounts for

the warming of air and associated increasing water holding capacity only” (Investigators at University of

Potsdam, page 73).

“Drought is a serious ecological problem around the world, and it’s impact on crops and water

availability for humans can jeopardize human life. Although a drought has always been common, the

drought risk has become increasingly prominent because of the climate warming and that has occurred

during the past century” (Lanzhou University). Rainfall is increasing rapidly, and it is causing risks to

humans, but more importantly, climate change is causing droughts worldwide. One example of how

harmful drought is is humans could lose food supply and starve and die because of that fact that it is so

dry that our plants die off.

Over the past several years, the Earth’s atmosphere has been warming up and it has caused

catastrophes, species to die off, and the melting of the Earth’s ice caps and glaciers. It is important to
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become and stay educated on global warming and the risks it causes humanity and earth, because if

humans do not stop progression of climate change, no one will, and the human species will die off

completely. It is time that humans join together and save not only the species, but the place humans call

home; Planet Earth.

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Works Cited

"Global Warming and Climate Change; James Cook University Details Findings in Global Warming and Climate

Change (Global Warming Transforms Coral Reef Assemblages)." Global Warming Focus, May 14, 2018, pp.

336. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2036912920?accounti

d=10163.

Prothero, Donald R. "How we Know Global Warming is Real and Human Caused."Skeptic, vol. 17, no. 2, 2012, pp.

14-22,64. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1018739677?accounti

d=10163.

"Global Warming and Climate Change; Investigators at University of Potsdam Describe Findings in Global Warming

and Climate Change (Increased Record-Breaking Precipitation Events Under Global Warming)." Global

Warming Focus, Oct 19, 2015, pp. 73. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1722244118?accounti

d=10163

"Global Warming and Climate Change; New Global Warming and Climate Change Study Results Reported from

Lanzhou University (Management of Drought Risk Under Global Warming)." Global Warming Focus,

Jul 25, 2016, pp. 136. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/180595022

3?accountid=10163.

"Greenhouse Gases; Studies from University of Hawaii Yield New Information about Greenhouse Gases (Broad

Threat to Humanity from Cumulative Climate Hazards Intensified by Greenhouse Gas

Emissions)." Global Warming Focus, Jan 07, 2019, pp. 249. ProQuest,
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Wikipedia contributors. "Greenhouse gas." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 26

Mar. 2019. Web. 2 Apr. 2019