Facts About Climate Change & Global Warming

Environmental scientists sometimes talk about the phenomenon of global warming. Global warming, which is also known as climate change, is the gradual raising of the average temperature on the Earth. According to Global Issues.org, both natural events and human actions contribute to this phenomenon.

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

• The greenhouse effect may be the primary cause of global warming. This effect, so named because the Earth's atmosphere retains heat similarly to how a greenhouse does, occurs due to energy being trapped as part of a natural cycle.
  According to Global Issues, when the sun heats the Earth, the Earth radiates some of the sun's energy into space. However, some energy is trapped by atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapor. As this energy builds up in the Earth's atmosphere, the Earth gradually becomes hotter.

Man-Made Contributions to the Greenhouse Effect

• The greenhouse effect is not necessarily problematic. Without any energy trapping, the Earth might be too cold to support human or animal life. However, human activity can accelerate the greenhouse effect, causing the planet to become too hot to remain inhabitable.
  According to NASA Earth Observatory, human beings have become increasingly more dependent on machines that release carbon into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. As a result, greater levels of carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere, causing a larger greenhouse effect.

Differences Between Natural Climate Change and Human-Induced Climate Change

• The Earth's climate has always changed over time, and the greenhouse effect has always been with us. However, in the past such changes have been entirely natural. Human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels such as oil or gasoline, accelerates global warming.
  The major problem of concern is that the changes to the climate are too rapid. Natural climate change may take hundreds of years to reach significant levels; this allows the ecosystem to adapt to the changes. Rapid climate change, however, leaves the ecosystem more vulnerable to damage because it cannot "catch up" with changes.

Impact of Global Warming

• The UK Met Office, an organization dedicated to studying global warming in the United Kingdom, claims that temperatures could rise by up to 4 degrees Celsius by 2060. The office warns that such a dramatic increase in temperature will cause droughts and forest fires as well as weaken agricultural crops, making food more difficult to obtain. The temperature rise is not expected to be uniform; Arctic areas will be hit hardest, causing sea levels to rise as polar ice caps melt.
  Global Issues also addresses the effects of global warming, claiming that more incidences of hurricanes and other severe weather will occur due to increased temperatures. According to them, some areas (particularly in Europe) will be hit with colder weather, while other areas will suffer through droughts or heat waves due to the non-uniform rise in temperature.

Global Warming and Poverty

• According to Global Issues, global warming will affect impoverished areas more quickly. Many of these areas are in parts of the world expected to be hit with higher temperatures; in addition, poorer countries may not have the resources to adequately address global warming.
  Global warming may negatively impact the food supply, leading to a larger world hunger crisis than already exists. According to the United Nations Population Fund, women in poor areas may suffer the worst because they manage households, making it more difficult to escape severe weather, and often girls sacrifice education in order to help their mothers secure food during difficult times.