This is my senior project research paper, which is due on monday. I need someone to edit it and correct my mistakes before I write more. Also can you guys help me get some more information. I still need to do my in-text citation mla fortmat.
and sources
Global Warming
Global Warming is a very important ecological issue, and it has many negative effects on our environment. Global warming is also known as the greenhouse effects. Scientists have been aware of the greenhouse effect since 1824, when Joseph Fourier calculated that the Earth would be much colder if it had no atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is the absorption of energy radiated from the earth's surface by carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere causing the atmosphere to become warmer. Global warming has affects on the entire ecosystems and climates. It has been a big issue that has affected the environment, people, and even the whole world. If Global Warming is not stopped now the results could be catastrophic. Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of tropical storms all over the world. People believe in these statements, but there are many people around the world who refuse to believe that human contributions are the main causes of global warming. Many believe that the increase is part of the natural climatic change of earth. Global warming includes the natural climatic change, and the grounds of human causes. Because of those wrong attitudes and lifestyles of human, the problem which are caused by global warming are more serious.
There are changes in weather patterns causing more hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and other types of storms within the past few years, and these changes definitely affect human health. "Global warming is bringing more frequent and severe heat waves and the result will be serious for vulnerable populations," said Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist, National Wildlife Federation. This means air pollution in urban areas could get worse, bringing increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks. Children, the elderly, poor, and people of color are especially vulnerable to these effects. They not only kill and injure people, but also spread disease. Global warming is partly to blame for these heavy rainfall events, because warmer air can hold more moisture; heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come. Some other situations are wildfire frequency, severity, and damages. They are increasing because of rising temperatures, drying conditions, and more lightning brought by global warming. All situations combined with decades of fire suppression that allowed unsafe fuel loads to accumulate a severe bark beetle infestation. This is rapidly decimating trees and ever expanding human settlements in and near forests. Storm debris can lead to injuries which can become infected with tetanus; people who must live in make-shift shelters tend to become ill more easily and disease can spread rapidly through refugee camps. Flooding can also lead to more insects, particularly mosquitoes, which can spread malaria and the West Nile virus. Today, however major changes are taking place. People are conducting an inadvertent global experiment by changing the face of the entire planet. We are destroying the ozone layer, which allows life to exist on the earth's surface. All of these activities are unfavorably altering the composition of the biosphere and the earth's heat balance.
The majority of the population on the Earth believes that Global warming is an effect of the burning of fossil fuels. According to the Stanford Solar Center, Global Warming is an "attributed to the increase of greenhouse gasses (carbon dioxide and methane) in the Earth's atmosphere, caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrial, farming, and deforestation activities". The affects we humans have on the environment seem to be a reason all the time, and many people think that global warming is our defining effect on the Earth. Every year, billions of tons of carbon dioxide are added to the atmosphere, adding up to the largest concentration during the past 420,000 years. Many cars, power plants, and burning of everything containing carbon generously add to this number. We as humans should realize our fossil fuel burning habit is enough; we have to stop the increase of carbon dioxide every year.
Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it. "Global warming is affecting our planet by warming up all the seas and causing the glaciers to melt, so polar bears lose their habitat and also deforestation" (Shefcyk). More than a million species face extinction because of disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans. The oceans circulation system is known as the ocean conveyor belt could be permanently altered and cause a mini ice age in the Western Europe and other rapid changes. Rising temperature could release additional greenhouse gasses by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice and cause increased evaporation of water. In future global warming could become uncontrollable, if people don't pay attention to it.
Sea level is one of the most obvious impacts of global warming. "Sea-level rise threatens low-lying coastal ecosystem globally. In Florida, U.S.A., salinity stress due to increased tidal flooding contributes to the dramatic and well documented decline of species-rich coastal forest areas along the Gulf of Mexico."(DeSantis, 2007, p.1) shows the phenomenon of sea-level rise is happening now. Moreover, scientists have pointed out in the recently science magazines that they have found a new plant virus "TOMV", which is located in the ice shelf. Scientists also believe that once the ice shelf melts, the ancient virus will cause many different diseases that human cannot resist. "Sea temperatures have risen by on average 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degree Fahrenheit) over the last 40 years" [Tim Barnett, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California]. The rising of sea level (ten to twenty cm) during the twentieth century may be related to the increase in global mean temperature. With increasing average global temperature, the water in the oceans expands in volume. When the ocean expands in volume it takes up more space and sea level rises. "20,000 square kilometers of fresh water ice melted in the Arctic between 1965 and 1995"[Ruth Curry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Connecticut]. Besides, additional water which had previously been locked up on land in glaciers enters them. Melting mountain glaciers also contributed to the changes of sea level. As temperature rise, ice will melt more quickly. New satellite measurements reveal that the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets are shedding about 125 billion tons of ice per year. This is enough to raise sea levels by 0.35 millimeters (0.01 inches) per year.
If global warming does not stopped the climate change will damage a lot of wildlife that depends on the right temperatures, fresh water, food sources, and places to raise their young. Global warming is causing significant climate changes. The melting of arctic ice will remove hunting ground from Polar Bears. (The food availability for migratory species such as birds arriving on schedule to find their food sources--insects, seeds, flowering plants--have hatched or bloomed too early or not at all.) Milder winters will cause seasonal food caches to spoil, so wildlife species, such as the Gray Jay which depends on food storing to survive during the winter are left without sustenance. The Severe droughts stress and can kill plants on which wildlife depend for food and shelter, and deprives wildlife of water sources. This has also caused changes in the timing of spring events and the length of the growing season.
There are ways that we can help slow down global warming drastically "People need to reduce the carbon footprint."(Shefcyk). According to Lemonick (Life in the Greenhouse, 24), global warming is the "long term shift in [worldwide] temperature change." A long-term temperature change could be anything. It's often hard to tell what a global temperature disaster is and what just a local climate fluctuation is. We can do many things to slow or reduce climate change and make a difference such as undertake organic farming, use only adequate amounts of fertilizer for crops, reduce consumption of meat, plant trees, use energy efficient machinery's/gadgets, reduce consumption of goods in general, conserve forests, and disseminate information about climate change and its impacts. Also we need to look at the main sources of carbon dioxide which are coal, petroleum, and natural gas. The problem is that this would basically shut down, "the coal and oil industries, oil-exporting nations, the automobile industry, and many manufacturers" "(Pringle, Global Warming15-30). So because these powerful companies don't want to lose money they hire scientists to deny that there is a global warming problem. It will be a slow change but there are already some things being done.
