Explanatory Essay

Meryem Benslimane          

Dr. Abderrahim Agnaou

Eng1301, section 12

12 March 2012

Why Earth Is Becoming Warmer?

As we all noticed recently, the temperature of our planet is getting higher and higher, which makes our lives harder to handle economically and socially. However, what is the main cause behind this significant change in temperature? Global warming is a major problem that started to threaten every creature on earth starting from the ones in the deep oceans up to us as human beings living on the surface. The points that I will focus on during explaining this phenomenon are the definition of global warming, the harmful effects of this phenomenon, and the solutions that can lower these effects.  

            Global warming is a phenomenon that can briefly be defined as a significant increase in temperature in the atmosphere around the earth. This increase is occurred under some specific conditions; for example, the burning of fossil fuels in cars is a main cause of global warming. This is due to the huge amounts of carbon dioxide CO₂ released from this procedure. The carbon dioxide travels through the layers of atmosphere until it reaches the ozone layer, which in turn contains a high concentration of ozone O_3. The role of this layer is to absorb the harmful lights coming from the sun and prevent it from reaching the organisms. However, the high release of CO₂ results in an increase in the concentration of it in the atmosphere. This increase of CO₂ affects the ozone layer negatively and causes what we call the ozone hole. As mentioned earlier, the main role that the ozone layer plays is absorbing the harmful light coming from the sun, but what if there is a hole in this layer? The ozone hole permits these lights to infiltrate to the earth but prevent them from returning to the outer space. The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the long wave lights, which causes the warmth of the atmosphere. Therefore, these harmful lights and other gases are locked up in the domestic air layers of the earth and are reflected to cause global warming.

            The harmful effects of global warming are numerous, and most of them are taking place in our daily lives. Initially, let’s talk about the effects of this phenomenon on the oceans. The rise of temperature leads to the melting of ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic. This melting leads, in turn, to the rise of the sea level and causes floods, in addition to droughts and some other damages. Moreover, global warming usually affects the hydrological cycle of evaporation and causes precipitation, and this latter is represented in many forms. Acid rain is a common form of precipitation, and the occurrence of this natural disaster is usually attributed to the release of carbon dioxide and some other gases, which react with water particles and cause the fall of acidic rain. To be more specific, as the concentration of carbon dioxide increases, the chance of having acid synthesis reaction increases too. The consequences of this problem appear in the harm it causes to the plants and the animals, especially the aquatic ones. The soil is damaged because the acidic rain causes the killing of many microbes and organisms living in the soil and helping the growth of plants; therefore, plants are extremely damaged, economically speaking, agricultural crops are negatively affected. On the other extreme, the harm that is related to the aquatic animals is attributed to the increase in the concentration of aluminum and the decrease of the pH scale in the water surface.

            Based on all what was mentioned about the causes and the effects of the global warming, we can conclude that the main reasons behind this phenomenon are the human activities. Thus, people should stop being selfish, start thinking about the social interest, and try to find some effective solutions to diminish the damages caused by the change in the climate. Using other natural resources of energy is an aspect, or solution, that government started to apply recently. For instance, using biofuel and nuclear power instead of fossil fuel is already a good start toward a cleaner and a healthier future. In addition, using new technology to filter the gases generated from the combustion of fossil fuel and recycling the factory waste will be a great step to decrease the emission of CO₂ and many other harmful gases.

           Finally, and according to Barack Obama:

All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. (“Notable Quotes”)

Global warming, as a phenomenon that indicates an increase in the temperature of the atmosphere around the earth, has started to reach paroxysm. Its harmful effects were not satisfied by only damaging the environment, but they are also willing to destroy the health of all the organisms. The solutions are in our hands, and as we caused the existence of this phenomenon by our activities, we have to be responsible to apply these solutions effectively and to do our best to protect ourselves from ourselves.  

Work Cited

Venkataramanan, M. "Causes And Effects Of Global Warming." Indian Journal Of Science &  Technology 4.3 (2011): 226-229. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.

National Geographic. N.p. 1996-2012. Web.7 Mar 2012.

Obama, Barack. “Quotes On Global Warming”. Notable Quotes. 3 Apr 2006.

             Web.11 Mar 2012.