Remember the crazy wildfires that happen in California during their wildfire seasons? The ones
that burned as much land as a whole state? Believe it or not, those wildfires are indirect results
of global warming. While it may seem that global warming has only recently gained attention, it's
been a topic of debate for centuries, dating all the way back to the 1800s, the Industrial
Revolution.
Global warming is a gradual long term increase in the average temperature of earth's
atmosphere, due to the greenhouse effect, where gasses trap heat from solar radiation.
Greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, in the Earth's
atmosphere, can come from a variety of sources, like deforestation, fossil fuels, and waste
disposal. Many machines we use today rely on fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gasses, and
oil, to run. These release carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.
Deforestation removes the trees that act as a natural GHG filter, which absorbs carbon dioxide,
and releases oxygen. Waste disposal is when plastics and other non-biodegradable waste
decomposes, it’ll release toxic gas into the environment. There are many other sources of
green house gasses that affect our atmosphere as well, such as modern farming,
manufacturing, transportation, and mining.
The effects of global warming are felt by all people around the globe in one way or another.
From extreme heat waves that have scorched states, and tsunamis that have flooded cities,
these effects of global warming have caused poverty, displacement, hunger, and social unrest.
The United Nations Climate Change Panel, outlines the serious effects of global warming that
are to come. Higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and an increase in extreme weather
events, all of which cause death, starvation, and disease. They even say that global warming
could eventually result in extinction in certain animal species, and native plants.