“The earth’s rising temperature caused a large chunk of ice to break off from Antarctica and plunge into the sea. The resulting shockwaves generated huge waves that flooded low lying lands around the globe and even the tectonic plates were displaced. Failure of the ozone layer caused all equatorial regions to combust and the Amazon jungle quickly became a wasteland. Finally, the large displacement of water caused the Earth’s orbit to change slightly and sent the planet on a collision course with Venus.”
You’re probably thinking that this is a fictitious and overly exaggerated prophesy of the future; and you’d be right!! I just invented that on the spur of the moment! The truth is that global warming is a much publicised issue and it is very easy to confuse separate and unrelated issues. For example, the first paragraph mentions the failure of the ozone layer. This is indeed an environmental crisis but is not connected to global warming in any other way than it being caused by mankind.
Furthermore, the political agenda of nations also influences their stance on global warming. Consider, for example, the United States of America. The most powerful nation on Earth unsurprisingly has a huge appetite for energy. Consequently, their stance on global warming is one of general indifference. The problem is that other countries also have rising energy needs, in particular, India and China.
What, then, is the truth? A good question; for whilst the basics are agreed upon, the consequences are disputed. It all boils down to the green house effect. It has been described as a blanket covering the earth. Solar radiation passes through the atmosphere and warms the Earth’s surface. Reflected solar radiation in the Infra Red range is absorbed by green house gases (GHGs) like Methane, Carbon Dioxide and even water vapour. This further warms the earth by 33˚C. As a result of industrial processes and the burning of fossil fuels, tons of excess greenhouse gases are being pumped into the atmosphere every year.
What are the consequences and are rising global temperatures really a catastrophic result of increasing Carbon Dioxide concentrations?
It may be, for example, that the temperature increase is due to normal climate change. In fact up to 98% of greenhouse gas emissions have nothing to do with mankind. As television presenter Jeremy Clarkson put it, “That means, a Range Rover, doing 10,000 miles a year, produces less pollution a day then a cow farting.”
The problem is… he’s right, and the Methane gas from cows is a far more effective GHG than Carbon Dioxide. However, most of the GHGs produced are actually the products of heavy industry, produced in large volumes in countries like the US and China. Those are just the sceptics of global warming talking. Life exists in an equilibrium, change a factor at too fast a rate and, no matter how seemingly insignificant the change, the results may be disastrous. Consider also that this 98% natural global warming warms the earth just enough to sustain this climate. The extra 2% may tip the scales and also the added heat may produce more water vapour increasing global warming. Oh dear!!
In search of some concrete answers I hunted for some lecturers. I figured they could give me some straight answers. I finally managed to interrogate the “Science of the Earth” guy. Unfortunately, the answers I got do not allow me to make any predictions regarding the future of the Earth. What I can say is that GHGs can be found at higher concentrations over urban areas and this may give an indication as to their area of influence.
The fact of the matter is that nobody can be certain about what will happen. It is true that climates fluctuate over the millennia, but will ice ages really be triggered by global warming? All we can be certain about are the unnatural phenomena occurring around us, periods of drought and polar icecaps melting. We can be sure about one thing…global warming is indeed a problem and its consequences may have far reaching and destructive results.
http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=65
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeremy_Clarkson
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