What’s the cause of Global Warming

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January 12, 2010 • Uriel Torres  
Filed under Opinion

What causes global warming?  Do you think it’s caused by human activities or is it naturally caused?  Global warming is one of the most serious challenges our planet faces.  Left unchecked, it will increase the severity of hurricanes, cause major flooding, and intensify desertification.  Global warming not only affects us humans personally, it also affects animals, and of course nature.  Temperature increases will have a significant impact on human activities, including where we can live, what food we can grow, and where we can grow food.  I believe that global warming is caused by human activities.

Earth is already showing many signs of worldwide climate change.  Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880, and much of this occurred in recent decades, according to NASA’s Gaddard Institute for Space Studies.  The arctic is feeling the effects the most.  Average temperatures in Alaska, Western Canada, and Eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the Multinational Artic Climate Impact Assessment report.  Another problem is, arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier.  Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting.  For example, Montana’s Glaciers National Park now has only 27 Glaciers, versus 150 in 1910.

Many people think that global warming is naturally caused.  This is because many people think that the world is just warming up after the last big ice age.  Another reason why people think it’s naturally caused is because of the burning of fossil fuels.  They also think that the recent increase in the earth’s temperature is no cause for alarm.  Temperature increases occurred before the widespread emission of carbon dioxide in the middle of the 20^th century.  They believe that earth’s coastlines and polar ice caps are not in danger of disappearing.  However, I must tell you that they’re wrong, because one of the main causes of global warming is our atmosphere being too thick to create a lot of carbon dioxide, which is caused by humans.

Therefore, because I think global warming is caused by humans, and we should stop our destructive behavior before we destroy our environment. We should start helping by recycling our organic waste.  Around 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions through methane is released by decomposing biodegradable waste.  By recycling organic waste or composting it if you have a garden, you can help eliminate this problem.  Just make sure that you compost it properly, so it decomposes with sufficient oxygen, otherwise your compost will cause methane emissions and smell foul.

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