Sample Essay: Global Warning

As one would imagine, global warming is an international phenomenon with repercussions planet-wide.  Seeped in controversy, as detractors argue it does not exist while alarmist headlines warn that the end of earth is near, global warming is an environmental issue which has just recently received acceptance by the scientific world.  Climate change is a hot topic and has been a key issue in recent elections in Canada and the United States.  Those who critics the global warming awareness movement often argue that global warming is in fact not an environmental crisis but a manufactured issue, created for many political reasons.  Despite the shrinking number of pessimists, global warming is a phenomenon which affects – and will continue to affect – our planet every single day.  Seeking to explain the issue of global warming, the following will provide a thorough and in-depth summary of global warming.  We will begin with an analysis of the evidence for global warming including the connection between climate change and global warming.  Following this, and with an aim to explore the impact of global warming on the State of California, this paper will look at consequences for United States if global warming continues.

Global warming and climate change are terms which are often used interchangeably.  Has the link between global warming and climate change been established?  Yes, according to scientists global warming is caused by an increase in greenhouse gas in the earth’s atmosphere.  As we shall see below, the effects of global warming are varied and include modifications in atmospheric temperatures and rainfall, which can lead to climate change (Arnella & Reynardb, 1996).

Global warming is generally described as the average increase in the Earth’s temperatures.  Importantly, global warming is expected to continue as time progresses and increase annually.  Global warming is the reported cause of climate change on an international scale which has lead to extreme weather across the planet, ranging from unusual snowfall in autumn to mild winter temperatures, erratic changes to precipitation trends, glacial retreat, the extinction of species, pronounced desertification and a bona fide rise in international sea levels.  Examples of global warming have been seen across the planet and have been captured by NGOs like National Geographic, who has brought some of the effects of global warming – such as the effects of global warming on the arctic – into the homes of millions worldwide.  Despite an increased acceptance that global warming does in fact exist and is here to stay, there is not unanimous agreement within the scientific world on the actual causes of global warming.  What makes the planet to warm up?  It is to this important question that we turn.

While consensus on the causes of global warming does not exist, there are many causes of this phenomenon, both natural and human-made.  Global warming has been going on for centuries and is a natural phenomenon.  A natural cause of global warming is methane gas which is released from the arctic tundra and wetlands.  As a greenhouse gas, methane traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere.  According to scholars, a natural climate cycle is approximately 40,000 years and this is another natural cause of present global warming (Vitousek, 1994).

For the first time in 2002, the United States Government acknowledged that man-made pollution was to blame for global warming.  Although the Government under George W. Bush has adamantly refused to partake in the Kyoto Protocol – the US officially rejected this treaty in 2001 – the acknowledgment that human beings have contributed to global warming is an important step in the right direction in combating this global problem.  In submitting a 268 page official report to the United Nations written by the US EPA, the United States acknowledged what many scientists, both at home and abroad, have always argued.  Accordingly, this document agrees with the assertion that a variety of human activities, including car emissions, oil refining and power generation are significant causes of global warming.  In an interesting twist of fate, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported that this Environmental Protection Agency document was submitted on the same day as 15 European Union countries – allies of the United States – ratified the Kyoto Protocol.   Although belated, in acknowledging the threat of global warming, what are the impacts that global warming and climate change have on the United States (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2002)?

The United States is a large country and after, Russia and Canada, is the third largest state on the planet.  Global changes to the world’s climates will surely have differing impacts on the diverse climate of the United States of America.  Accordingly, the United States have very different climates, as the northeastern portion of the country such New England may experience four full seasons characterized by temperate summers and icy cold winters, some areas of the southwestern tip of the United States are desert-like and have climates more commonly found in the Maghreb or Middle Eat.   What is certain, however, is that extreme changes in climate will have negative effects on the United States.  Extreme weather, represented by events such as Hurricane Katrina, wil; result in more hurricanes, tornadoes and more adverse weather.  Desertification in one part of the country, coupled with a sharp increase in precipitation in another part of the country, could wreak havoc on the United States’ agricultural production.  Declining productivity in the American agricultural sector may also lead to foreign dependence.  A foreign dependence on many of the staples of the American diet – milk, wheat products, etc – could have negative ramifications in both the social, economic and geopolitical realms.   Ecosystems will change and ecological change may lead to further desertification and the extinction of certain species.  Thus, we may witness the roll-back of fertile land in places such as New Mexico and the extinction of animals like the marmot (the Vancouver Island Marmot is presently on the verge of extinction as there are less than 75 left on the planet).   According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “A few ecosystems, such as alpine meadows in the Rocky Mountains and some barrier islands, are likely to disappear entirely.”  Additionally, heat-related human deaths, may increase with time particularly among the elderly during periods of extreme heat in already warm places like Florida and Nevada (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2002).

Recent attempts to stop the trend of global warming through international agreements can have important ramifications for the United States.  The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement which aims for the “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2005) may have negative economic effects for the United States.  In fact, adherence to the stipulations of the Kyoto Protocol and the important deleterious effects; this is one of the major reasons as to why the United States Government has adamantly refused to ratify the agreement.  Some Americans feel that the targets to cut emissions of greenhouse gases will harm both the economy as well as American business interests (Clin,e 1992).

Although it has less than 4 per cent of the world’s population, the United States of America is the world’s biggest emitter of the greenhouse gas CO2,.   As a large country as well, changes to the climate of the world will have important ramifications on the United States in a variety of ways.  As we have seen, global warming is an international problem with planet-wide repercussions.  This essay has demonstrated a link between global warming and climate change and has established important precursors for the emergence of global warming on our planet.  Furthermore, we have shown that while the United States has recently embraced the link between climate change and global warming, this phenomenon will have important consequences for the country as a whole.  California, on the Pacific coast, has taken the lead when it comes to climate change awareness and has enacted a positive response which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 2020.  Although efforts to handle the effects of climate change in California have been undertaken, we must wait until these targets are actually implemented before tangible results are seen.  Global warming remains an international problem and whether or not it is appropriately addressed in the United States remains to be seen (McCarty, 2001).

Reference

Arnella, N. W.  & N. S. Reynardb. (1996).  The effects of climate change due to global warming on river flows in Great Britain. Journal of Hydrology 183 (3-4), 397-424, London.

“Climate Change”.  EPA.gov.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency. Web. October 16 2009.<http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/fq/effects.html>

Cline, W.R. (1992).  The Economics of Global Warming. New York: Peterson Institute.

“Global Warming: The Causes”. Ecobridge.org.   Eco-bridge, 2008.  Web. October 16 2009. <http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm>

“Humans cause global warming, US admits.”  BBC.com. British Broadcasting Corporation, 3 June 2002.   Web. October 16 2009.  <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2023835.stm>

McCarthy, M. (2001) “Bush declares he won’t sign Kyoto’s landmark treaty on global warming”.  Independent.co.uk. The Independent, 29 March 2001. Web.  October 25. 2008. <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bush-declares-he-wont-sign-kyotos-landmark-treaty-on-global-warming-689360.html>

The Kyoto Protocol.  (1997).  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Vitousek, P. M. (1994).  Beyond global warming: ecology and global change. Ecology, 75(7): 1861-1876, London.