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Biological consequences of global warming as a result of the enhanced…
Biological consequences of global warming as a result of the enhanced greenhouse effect
How the green house effect is being enhanced
Our atmosphere is thin enough that we can change the chemical composition of it.
As a result when we releases carbon dioxide and other green house gasses into the atmosphere it means it becomes "thicker".
As a result short wave radiation that has reflected off the surface
can't escape as easily, meaning it is trapped in the atmosphere and planet heats up
What is happening to lead to more Carbon dioxide and other green house gasses being released.
With the rise of the industrial revolution globally we are emitting more and more green house gasses.
Because of this CO2 levels are predicted to go up exponentially.
Factories and other industrial sites produce huge amounts of CO2 from burning fossil fuels with China, one of the biggest industrial countries globally, production the most globally, producing 10.06GT of CO2 in 2018.
This is linked with the carbon cycle, as all the carbon stored in fossil fuels are released when burnt, in unnatural and unhealthy amounts, meaning the world's carbon sinks like oceans and rain forests can't deal with it.
Transportation is another huge emitter, with it being the main producer of green house gasses in the US in 2018.
Biological consequnces
The enhanced green house effect is having a huge impact, as it has lead to global warming, on many different species including humans.
One impact that it is having on humans is the fact that many ice caps and glaciers are melting world wide.
For example, 40% of the world gets their drinking water from rivers and spring systems which are more than half fed by the meltwater from the Himalayas's glaciers, which are beginning to shrink and disappear. This means that in around half a century when the glaciers have completely melted and are gone there will be no water for these people.
Polar ice caps melting also means to a rise in global sea levels, which would have huge biological impacts as it would devastate many areas from flooding.
Rising seas levels are predicted to swallow up many small ocean islands as well, destroying unique biodiversity and human homes.
It also leads to a loss of habitat in polar regions for many arctic animals such as polar pears. In the antarctic it is affecting penguins as well.
Ice losses have soared from about 760 billion tons per year in the 1990s to more than 1.2 trillion tons per year in the 2010s.
Another impact is the increased severity of natural disasters which affects all life, as it not only destroy habitats for humans, animals and plants alike whilst killing many in the process, but it also costs millions for governments to try and recover from
For example, Hurricane Katrina was made much worse by it going over a lot of warm water, and as water is warming by global warming the hurricane was made much stronger than it would have with no global warming. The increased strength of the hurricane meant it killed many and cost billions in damage.
