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Angela Bucher
English 2000
1 December 2014
Global Warming Effects
Global warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s
atmosphere attributed to the greenhouse-affect caused by the increased levels of carbon
dioxide and other pollutants. There is a cause for serious concern for global warming
because even though its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance, they can
already be seen throughout the world today. Many scientists agree that certain
consequences are likely to occur, which are the melting of glaciers, rising sea levels,
warmer sea surface temperatures, forests and cities will have new diseases, and the
disruption of different habitats such as the coral reefs. All of these different consequences
affect different people and ecosystems around the world. Global warming, a very
controversial topic, affects millions of people in various ways, including the people living
along the coast, oil companies, and environmentalists.
Most scientists and world leaders would generally agree that the earth is warming.
A study showed that from “tree rings, coral reefs, and ice cores, along with historical
records, temperature increases in the Northern Hemisphere are greater in the twentieth
century than in any century during the past one hundred years” (Dagg). This same report
also shows new, stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the past fifty
years is attributed to human activities. The earth’s warming is linked to the emissions of
different gasses, but the primary gas appears to be carbon dioxide formed by the
combustion of oil, coal, and natural gas.
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Changes in the sea level rising are very gradual right now, but ecosystem changes
on the other hand are not. These changes in the sea level will affect Louisiana more than
most states due to the fact that Louisiana greatly depends on the sea life and is a coastal
state. With its low, flat coast, Louisiana suffers from a high apparent sea level rise as
marshes are sinking and coastal erosion is converting marsh areas into open water. With
this great expanse of open estuarine water, surface waters will be exposed to greater
levels of ultraviolet light. This increase in ocean water could result in stronger and more
frequent hurricanes. Stronger storm winds cause greater destruction of coastal areas,
increased penetration of seawater into coastal wetlands, more extensive coastal erosion,
and extensive damage to coastal homes, industries, and infrastructure.
The effect of global warming has a huge impact on everyone around the world,
but it has a greater impact on the lives and land along the coast. Even though there have
been fewer hurricanes in past years, they were stronger winds than ever before. Erosion
then becomes a major issue. With every bit of wetland that is lost, the people and places
along the Gulf Coast become that much more vulnerable to the next hurricane. The
Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) announced that the “sea
has risen about 7 inches globally in the past century, driven by climate change, alongside
an increase of Earth’s average surface temperature of more than 1.4 degrees” (Dan). Even
though the people living along the coast are greatly affected by global warming, other
groups of people are also affected.
Oil provides forty to forty-three percent of all energy used by the world. Any
strategy to address climate change almost always involves the phase out of fossil fuels.
The oil companies with the highest profile on the climate change issue are BP, Shell, and
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ExxonMobil. While all three companies publicly admit that climate change exists, their
level of commitment to pursuing alternatives remains extremely low. These oil
companies’ target for an increase in their rate of extraction of oil and gas. These oil
companies also acknowledge that climate change poses a threat to their bottom line.
Another risk to these oil companies is that the rise in sea levels and storm surges pose
risk to many of the off shore oil rigs. The production and burning of fossil fuels is
changing the climate, which in turn is upping the risk of flooding, heat waves and sealevel rise in the same places where oil companies extract, store, and refine their products.
These fossil fuel companies are not trying to do anything to solve climate change.
Instead, they are preparing for the impact it will have on the Earth’s environment.
Climate change is especially troublesome for oil and gas operations in the Great
Plains region, the United States Southeast, and the State of Alaska. In the Great Plains,
Texas and Wyoming alone account for half of the United States energy production. As
global temperatures increase, Texas and other southern states in the region could see an
increase in the number of extremely hot days. The Texas Gulf Coast will also start to see
the coastline recede. In Alaska, global warming is likely to create transportation
problems for major oil developers in the state’s North Slope regions. Oil companies
depend on the use of ice roads to move around the frozen Artic land, but as Alaska’s
average temperature increases, the melting ice roads lead to shorter ice road transport
seasons. Even though oil companies are greatly affected by global warming, so are
environmentalists.
Environmentalists are primarily worried about the amount of rare earth metals the
world contains. Many plans on reducing the world’s emissions of carbon dioxide involve
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using wind turbines and replacing gas cars with electric ones. Wind turbines and electric
vehicles, however, both use dysprosium and neodymium to make the magnets that are
essential for them to work properly. These two elements are part of a group called rareearth metals. The largest supply of rare earth metals comes from China, who is the
highest producer of carbon dioxide into the environment. Currently, there is not a huge
demand for these rare earth metals but, as the world continues to grow with new
inventions of electric cars, the supply of rare earth metals may not be able to keep up with
the demand of the people. A study showed that “if wind turbines and electric vehicles are
going to fulfill the role environmental planners have assigned them in reducing emissions
of carbon dioxide; using current technologies would require an increase in the supply of
neodymium and dysprosium of more than 700% and 2,600% respectively during the next
25 years” (Demand for Some Rare-Earth Elements). This shows that for people to use
these electric cars, they must save and mine for these rare earth metals.
Cell phones, iPads, laptops, televisions, hybrid cars, wind turbines, solar cells and
many other products rely on rare earth metals to function. The problem the world faces is
if there will be enough for the world to continue a high-tech lifestyle and transition to a
renewable energy economy. On the other hand there are also consequences to mining
these rare earth metals. More mining of these metals means more environmental
degradation and human health hazards. All rare earth metals contain radioactive elements
such as uranium and thorium, which can contaminate air, water, soil, and groundwater.
The question now becomes how do people prevent global warming as a whole?
President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China decided that together, they
need to cut their nations’ carbon emission that has shifted global politics to climate
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change. Scientists say that “the planet will tip into a future of dangerous and irreversible
warming, which will include the loss of vast stretches of arable land, rapid melting of
Artic sea ice, rising sea levels, extreme droughts, storms, and flooding” (Davenport).
Even though this is a major problem seen throughout the world, many other governments
refused to cut emissions, arguing that if the world’s top two polluters were not acting,
that they should not have to act either. President Obama and President Xi Jinping are
planning on meeting in Paris to discuss the details of the deal. They want a treaty that will
allow them to put a tax on all industries for their carbon emissions. Unfortunately, many
other major emitters like Australia, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, whose
economies depend on markets for fossil fuels, do not appear that they want anything to do
with the treaty. Even though the government is trying to help with the global warming
problem, there are still many things that the people can do to help also.
The National Resource Defense Council has come up with a five-step plan that
will repower, refuel, and rebuild America. The first step in this plan is “the most
significant step we can take to reduce carbon pollution which is to set practical, feasible
limits on the major sources such as cars and power plants” (Global Warming Solutions).
The largest source of carbon pollution in the United States is power plants. The
Environment Protection Agency (EPA) needs to establish targets for reducing carbon
pollution from existing power plants. The second step is to invest in clean energy
industries, such as wind and solar energy efficient programs. This step will be a major
beneficent in ways other than just helping with the carbon pollution problem. This step
will also create millions of jobs due to the manufacturing of solar panels and wind
turbines. The third step is to break the Unites States addiction to oil and manufacture
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fuel-efficient cars, like hybrids and plug-in hybrids. These switches in fuel-efficient cars
will greatly profit the United States as a whole with the money the people will save from
the less amount of oil they would have to purchase. The fourth step is to make the
buildings more energy efficient. Buildings and the appliances within them account for a
large portion of America’s energy use and global warming. If more energy efficient
buildings and appliances start to surface, people will save a lot of money on their
electricity bills. The fifth and final step to this process is to start building walkable
communities near transportation hubs instead of normal suburbs. If places in
communities become easier to access and walk to, it would mean less driving time and
less carbon pollution released into the environment. Overall, if people were more
conscientious about the amount of greenhouse gas they produce, then a cleaner
environment would slowly start to develop.
Works Cited
Dagg, Michael, and Richard Shaw. “Climate Change: What Will It Mean for Louisiana’s
Coastal Fisheries?” Louisiana Sea Grant College Program. (2001): Print
Dan, Vergano. "Climate Change Soften Up Already-Vulnerable Louisiana." USA Today.
6 Aug. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
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<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/06/climate-hurricaneswetlands-global-warming/2595657/>.
Davenport, Coral. "Deal on Carbon Emissions by Obama and Xi Jinping Raise Hopes for
Upcoming Paris Climate Talks." The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 12 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/world/asia/deal-on-carbon-emissions-byobama-and-xi-jinping-raises-hopes-for-upcoming-paris-climate-talks.html?_r=0>.
"Demand for Some Rare-Earth Elements Could Rapidly Outstip Supply." The Economist.
The Economist Newspaper Limited, 17 May 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.economist.com/node/21550243>.
"Global Warming Solutions." NRDC: Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural
Resources Defense Council, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/solutions/>.
Noda, A., M. Satoh, Y. Yamada, C. Kodama, and T. Seiki. "Response of Tropical and
Subtropical High-Cloud Statistics to Global Warming." Journal of Climate 27.20
(2014): 7753-768. American Meteorological Society. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
<http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8c51
9f82-a8f2-4043-bc90-b56e4f4fb54e@sessionmgr4004&vid=8&hid=4213>.
Running, Katrina. "World Citizenship and Concern for Global Warming: Building the
Case for a Strong International Civil Society." Social Forces 92.1 (2013): 377-99.
Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
<http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8c51
9f82-a8f2-4043-bc90-b56e4f4fb54e@sessionmgr4004&vid=12&hid=4213>.
Zhang, Lei, and Tim Li. "A Simple Analytical Model for Understanding the Formation of
Sea Surface Temperature Patterns Under Global Warming." Journal of Climate
27.22 (2014): 8413-421. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
<http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f7fc8
cd4-f34b-49a2-9e15-b34d8d3b700c@sessionmgr112&vid=16&hid=113>.