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Facts on Pollution Caused By Global Warming

Global warming is an issue that has caught the attention of environmentalists, governments and the media alike in recent times. Development and industrialization have given mankind today a life of luxury and comfort, but it has all come at a cost. Factories, electric appliances, chemical fertilizers, vehicles and vegetable wastes dumped on the ground have resulted in the emission of excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, and massive deforestation has lifted the carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere.

  1. Identification

    • Global warming is the rise in the temperature of the earth at an abnormally fast rate due to certain human actions that cause excessive release of the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Not only is global warming a result of pollution, it is also a cause of more pollution. In short, it is a vicious cycle where pollution caused by human activities hits back at them by creating undesirable pollution effects.

    Effects on the climate

    • Global warming can burn holes in the Earth's ozone layer so global warming means hotter days. Global warming can bring about destructive acid rain when the harmful sulfur dioxide that factories emit dissolve in the rain water. When the heated and torpid air mixes with nitrogen oxides and the sun's rays, the result is smog.

    Effects on health

    • Smog is a pollutant that can trigger a whole lot of respiratory diseases, including asthma. With the growing amount of holes in the Earth's ozone layer, there is less protection, and this brings about a higher risk of skin cancer.

    Effects on the oceans and its inhabitants

    • Global warming causes an increase of carbon dioxide in the oceans, which in turn render the ocean waters acidic. Coral reefs in the ocean undergo a process called bleaching due to this reason, wherein they expunge the algae that grow on them, which also happens to be their food. Thus the coral reefs perish. Once the coral reefs die, the scores of fish, sharks, turtles and sponges are left with no food, and they too die. Acidity of the oceans also causes many other marine ecosystems to get exterminated.

    Other hazardous effects

    • Global warming will also cause the glaciers and snow to melt. This will raise water levels in oceans and other water bodies, leading to inundation. The skiing and tourism industry will also certainly suffer a huge blow. Other natural calamities that can be expected in the wake of global warming are hurricanes and heat waves. Europe witnessed the deadliest heat wave ever in the world in the year 2005.

    Warning

    • The facts related to pollution caused by global warming are indeed deeply alarming. If we do not quickly disable this ticking active bomb of global warming through anti-pollution measures, we are definitely affording a hearty welcome to mankind's destruction.

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