Justin Leung Mr. Cohn Essays - Physical Geography, Climatology

Justin Leung Mr. Cohn 5/25/17 Earth Science Environmental Effects of Global Warming: In order to talk about global warming, we must first learn what causes the greenhouse effect. A lot of the rays from the sun are absorbed by water vapor that is naturally in our atmosphere. Water vapor accounts for 80 percent of natural greenhouse warming. The remaining 20 percent is due to other gasses that are present in very small amounts. Carbon dioxide is also a big absorber of the sun's heat rays. Global warming will not just make sea levels rise, it will also affect sea life. Corals are intolerant of temperatures just a few degrees warmer than usual. Small increases in the temperature can kill corals. There have been problems with corals dying in the past few years because of increased water temperatures. Other marine life may migrate northward or southward because the waters are warmer. The warm water would make them think that they were in their natural habitat, when they were actually migrating toward the poles. Food would be scarce in their new habitat.Patterns of the c irculation of seawater are disturbed by global warming. Cold water moves along the sea floor towards the equator and warm water around the equator moves toward the poles across the surface of the ocean. It is known as thermohaline circulation. It is a very important process concerning ocean life. This circulation process brings oxygenated water to the sea floor. If this did not happen, Water along the sea floor would become depleted of the oxygen organisms need to survive.Fish, such as salmon, are also sensitive to the temperature of the water. During the summer when the water is warm, salmon have a higher metabolic rate. During the winter months, their metabolism slows down, which is good because less food is available. With global warming and increased water temperatures, salmon would have a higher metabolic rate, even if it were during the winter. Less food would be available for them and many salmon would die. Another impact of global warming will be that some diseases are likel y to be spread more easily. Mosquitoes are a major carrier of tropical diseases. Malaria outbreaks are usually confined to where the minimum winter temperature reaches no lower than 16 [degrees Celsius], according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, an independent conservation organization. Scientists are beginning to notice that malaria outbreaks are occurring outside these places. They are attributing this to increased temperatures from global warming. Places such as California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, and New York have had more cases of malaria. People from these states know that the summers have been very hot and humid lately. Malaria mosquitoes thrive in hot and humid weather. Increased temperatures and more rain in some areas will cause hot and humid weather, which will allow for mosquitoes to migrate to new places and spread the disease. A study suggests that malaria transmission would increase from 45% of the globe to 60%, if atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases reach con centrations equivalent to a doubling of CO2 since the industrial revolution1. Cholera and dengue fever are also carried by mosquitoes and thrive in warm and moist climates. As with malaria, more cholera and dengue fever outbreaks would occur because of migrating mosquitoes. As stated earlier, the warming of the oceans will increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and will make global warming a problem of increasing severity. There are other ways that this happens too. As the weather becomes warmer, more organic matter in the ground will be decomposed. This causes carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere: If average temperatures would rise by .3 degrees C per decade, soils will release an amount of CO2 equal to nearly 20 percent of the projected amount released by combustion of fossil fuels. Gas hydrates will also decompose with warmer temperatures. Gas hydrates are icelike solids in which molecules of gas, mainly methane, are locked in the structure of water and are usually found in frozen soil or in ocean sediments. Scientists have found that gas hydrates worldwide hold a total of 10,000 billion metric tons of carbon, twice the amount contained in all the known coal,