Maya Barrientos
Block D
Ms. Meneghetti
October, 30th, 2018
Climate Change
“The time has past when humankind thought it could selfishly draw on exhaustible resources. We know now that the world is not a commodity.” — François Hollande
Global warming is not a prediction. It is happening right now. It is a current increase in temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, water, and surface. Human activities produce greenhouse gases that accumulate in the atmosphere and cause problems our planet faces today. Global warming can do more than just melt polar ice and change weather patterns throughout the world. It can change our maps, displace people from tropical islands and cities, and cause famine. There is no debate within the scientific community. The scientific evidence of the global warming is clear. The consequences of this global problem will only intensify if we do not confront the realities of climate change. Mankind should achieve some meaningful solutions in order to address the threat of global warming. We should stop deforestations, reduce carbon emissions, and fight misinformation. People should be prepared for the inevitable consequences of the global warming. It is our today's reality and we should be responsible for doing so much harm to our planet Earth.
One of the most obvious effects of global warming is extreme weather. The weather patterns are rapidly changing in all parts of the world. The increased rainfall in certain regions affects the balance that animals and plants need to survive. Climate changes cause health problems, animal migration, and the lack of food resources. Extreme heat and droughts in diverse regions of our planet have become disastrous to human health. The frequency of the heavy precipitation has lead to the greater prevalence of floods. Global warming creates more natural disasters. Extreme weather events will continue to occur with greater intensity. So, we will experience significant changes in seasonal temperatures variations, wind patterns, and annual precipitation. The effects of global warming on plants and animals are expected to be widespread and profound. Many organisms are migrating from the equator toward poles in order to find more comfortable conditions for their existence. However, a lot of animals go extinct as they are not able to compete in new climate regime. Global warming can cause the disappearance of up to one-third of Earth's animals and one-half of plants by 2080.
Some climate change denial groups say that because CO2 is only a trace gas in the atmosphere it can only have a minor effect on the climate. Scientists have known for over a century that even this small proportion has a significant warming effect, and doubling the proportion leads to a large temperature increase. The scientific consensus, as summarized by the IPCC's fourth assessment report, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other reports, is that human activity is the leading cause of climate change. The burning of fossil fu...
