Describe some climatic changes in the world. What may these changes lead to in the future?
We live in a world that is threatened by global warming. The future seems uncertain for the generations to come, because of the effects that can already be seen today.
Ever since the day that we started using fossil fuels there has been an increase of CO2 in our atmosphere. And we are doing nothing to stop it. We are only making it worse. Trees are capable of transforming CO2 into O2, but every minute we chop down 100 trees in the rainforests alone. Instead of providing means of transportation that run on electricity, we promote cars that run on gasoline and diesel based fuels.
The effects can already be seen as the ozone layer is getting thinner and thinner. The ozone layer is the layer in our atmosphere which protects the Earth from the harmful solar radiation. This is the cause to the increase in skin cancer. But this is not the only effect. The buildup of CO2 in our atmosphere is causing the increase in our planet’s temperature, because it acts like a greenhouse, which deflects a part of the heat leaving the Earth, therefore causing the increase in temperature. The effects of the increase in temperature can already be seen in the North and the South Pole. The icebergs and glaciers melt away in the summer, but they don’t completely replenish, like they used to. But the problems aren’t only at the North and South poles. They are everywhere, and they affect animals and plants as well as humans. Animal and plant species are going extinct because their surroundings are changing faster than they can adapt. If global warming continues, there will be no penguins living in the wild 100 years from now. The story is the same with polar bears and other animals that live in very cold climates. But it won’t affect only the animals there. Desserts will spread, causing migrations of the animals towards the more suitable areas.
As the climate gets hotter and hotter, drinking water will become a problem as well. Even now, there are some countries that are running low on water supply. Only a couple of the rich countries can afford to desalinate sea water, because it is a very expensive process. The amount of water will be the same as now, but because the glaciers and ice bergs will fall in the ocean the water won’t be drinkable. The increase in the sea level will flood most of the coastal areas. Unfortunately, the highest density of the human population is at the coast and on the low-lying plains. The estimated rise in sea level is between 10 and 20m. Great numbers of people will have to migrate to higher grounds. Because a lot of arable land will be submerged under the sea, people will have to either extract land form the sea like they did it in the Netherlands, or they will have to create crops that will have big nutritional value and won’t require a lot of space.
Another question that spurs at this topic is: What CAN we do? If we stopped all emissions of CO2 now, the temperature of our planet would still increase for some time, until the trees would transform the sufficient amount of it into O2 that would allow the heat to escape.
We should stop deforestation and instead of chopping down trees, we should start planting them. By doing so, we would increase the amount of O2 and decrease the amount of CO2, because trees convert CO2 into O2 through the process of photosynthesis. But doing just that won’t solve the problem. To save the future of mankind we have to deal with the source of it. We must cut down on fossil fuels as much as possible. We should harness more wind and water energy and seek out new ways of obtaining electricity. Car companies should start promoting cars that run on electricity and bio-diesel and other eco-friendly sources of energy. But technology may not provide solutions for all of our problems, because not all of them are of a technological descent. Perhaps the best (or even the only) way for mankind to survive is to live with nature, instead of exploiting it.
Jernej Letonja,
Gimnazija Ptuj, Slovenija
We live in a world that is threatened by global warming. The future seems uncertain for the generations to come, because of the effects that can already be seen today.
Ever since the day that we started using fossil fuels there has been an increase of CO2 in our atmosphere. And we are doing nothing to stop it. We are only making it worse. Trees are capable of transforming CO2 into O2, but every minute we chop down 100 trees in the rainforests alone. Instead of providing means of transportation that run on electricity, we promote cars that run on gasoline and diesel based fuels.
The effects can already be seen as the ozone layer is getting thinner and thinner. The ozone layer is the layer in our atmosphere which protects the Earth from the harmful solar radiation. This is the cause to the increase in skin cancer. But this is not the only effect. The buildup of CO2 in our atmosphere is causing the increase in our planet’s temperature, because it acts like a greenhouse, which deflects a part of the heat leaving the Earth, therefore causing the increase in temperature. The effects of the increase in temperature can already be seen in the North and the South Pole. The icebergs and glaciers melt away in the summer, but they don’t completely replenish, like they used to. But the problems aren’t only at the North and South poles. They are everywhere, and they affect animals and plants as well as humans. Animal and plant species are going extinct because their surroundings are changing faster than they can adapt. If global warming continues, there will be no penguins living in the wild 100 years from now. The story is the same with polar bears and other animals that live in very cold climates. But it won’t affect only the animals there. Desserts will spread, causing migrations of the animals towards the more suitable areas.
As the climate gets hotter and hotter, drinking water will become a problem as well. Even now, there are some countries that are running low on water supply. Only a couple of the rich countries can afford to desalinate sea water, because it is a very expensive process. The amount of water will be the same as now, but because the glaciers and ice bergs will fall in the ocean the water won’t be drinkable. The increase in the sea level will flood most of the coastal areas. Unfortunately, the highest density of the human population is at the coast and on the low-lying plains. The estimated rise in sea level is between 10 and 20m. Great numbers of people will have to migrate to higher grounds. Because a lot of arable land will be submerged under the sea, people will have to either extract land form the sea like they did it in the Netherlands, or they will have to create crops that will have big nutritional value and won’t require a lot of space.
Another question that spurs at this topic is: What CAN we do? If we stopped all emissions of CO2 now, the temperature of our planet would still increase for some time, until the trees would transform the sufficient amount of it into O2 that would allow the heat to escape.
We should stop deforestation and instead of chopping down trees, we should start planting them. By doing so, we would increase the amount of O2 and decrease the amount of CO2, because trees convert CO2 into O2 through the process of photosynthesis. But doing just that won’t solve the problem. To save the future of mankind we have to deal with the source of it. We must cut down on fossil fuels as much as possible. We should harness more wind and water energy and seek out new ways of obtaining electricity. Car companies should start promoting cars that run on electricity and bio-diesel and other eco-friendly sources of energy. But technology may not provide solutions for all of our problems, because not all of them are of a technological descent. Perhaps the best (or even the only) way for mankind to survive is to live with nature, instead of exploiting it.
Jernej Letonja,
Gimnazija Ptuj, Slovenija