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Global warming: The global threat
The global warming is affecting both environment and human life. One major cause of global warming is the use of fossil fuels. If we can reduce the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere, we probably can slow the rate of global warming.
GLOBAL WARMING describes a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere. This is permanently changing the earth’s climate forever. The primary cause of global warming comes from humans, mostly burning of fossil fuels to drive cars, generating electricity and operating our homes and businesses. Global warming is very real and it is occurring every day.

The changes are small, so far, but they are expected to grow and speed up. Within the next fifty to one hundred years, the earth may be hotter than it has been in the past million years. As oceans warm and glaciers melt, land and cities along coasts may be flooded. Heat and drought may cause forests to die and food crops to fail. Global warming will affect weather everywhere, plants and animals everywhere, people everywhere.

One major cause of global warming is the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas that were formed from the remains of plant material deposited during the earth's carboniferous period. We have known for only a few thousand years that coal, oil and natural gas can be burned to provide energy. It was not until the mid-1800s, however, that we began to burn very large quantities of these fossil fuels. The worldwide consumption of fossil fuel has increased dramatically.

Unfortunately, burning fossil fuels is not the only thing that we humans are doing to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In many parts of the world today, forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Enormous numbers of trees are being cut down, both to provide timber and to clear the land for farming or ranching. In order to clear forests for agriculture, people cut down and burn all the trees in area. When the flames die down, nothing is left but acres of blackened, lifeless countryside. The fire destroys all the plants and kills or drives off the animals. Because there has been little attempt to replant trees in deforested areas, the world's forests are disappearing very quickly.

There are a number of things that we can do to prepare for the changes that are coming. If we act now, perhaps we can ‘soften the blow’ of the greenhouse effect. If we can reduce the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere, we probably can slow the rate of global warming and climate change. In the future, the weather cold change much more dramatically from year to year than it does now.

As global warming alters habitats, many kinds of animals will be on the move, but all sorts of barriers will stand between them and a new place to live. To help animals get around these barriers, it might be necessary to set up migration corridors that connect natural areas with one another. Without human intervention, many kinds of plants also may not survive as the earth's climate changes. Forests, in particular, may need our help. If climate changes come rapidly, few tree species will be able to spread into new areas fast enough to keep up with changing conditions. So, let us join hands to reduce the greenhouse gases and thereby control the global warming and save the globe.

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COMMENTS (2)
.i agree with you... no longer need to debate d global warming has occurred, now do what we can do, from the smallest things around us ... to plant one tree, separate the organic and inorganic waste, cycling for close trip, small behaviors that have a big impact ....
.At the United Nations meeting on climate change next week, scientists will be discussing some of the potentially devastating effects of global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth's changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird ways. So gird yourself for such strange effects as savage wildfires, disappearing lakes, freak allergies, and the threat of long-gone diseases re-emerging. 10. Aggravated Allergies Have those sneeze attacks and itchy eyes that plague you every spring been worsening in recent years? If so, global warming may be partly to blame. Over the past few decades, more and more Americans have started suffering from seasonal allergies and asthma. Though lifestyle changes and pollution ultimately leave people more vulnerable to the airborne allergens they breathe in, research has shown that the higher carbon dioxide levels and warmer temperatures associated with global warming are also playing a role by prodding plants to bloom earlier and produce more pollen. With more allergens produced earlier, allergy season can last longer. 9. Pulling the Plug A whopping 125 lakes in the Arctic have disappeared in the past few decades, backing up the idea that global warming is working fiendishly fast near Earth's poles. Research into the whereabouts of the missing water points to the probability that permafrost underneath the lakes thawed out. When this normally permanently frozen ground thaws, the water in the lakes can seep through the soil, draining the lake. One researcher likened it to pulling the plug out of a bathtub. When the lakes disappear, the ecosystems and organisms they support also lose their home 8. Arctic in Bloom While melting in the Arctic might cause problems for plants and animals at lower latitudes, it's creating a downright sunny situation for Arctic biota. Arctic plants usually remain trapped in ice for most of the year. Nowadays, when the ice melts earlier in the spring, the plants seem to be eager to start growing. Research has found higher levels of the photosynthesis product chlorophyll in modern soils than in ancient soils, showing a biological boom in the Arctic in recent decades. 7. Thicker Skins One worry connected to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is the accompanying increase of carbon dioxide in the ocean, as ocean waters dissolve the gas from the air. Rising levels of carbon dioxide make ocean water more acidic, which can make it harder for some shelled sea dwellers to build their protective armor. But one study has found that some shelled organisms actually have an easier time building their shells when more carbon dioxide is present, proving the effects can vary widely among different animals. 6. Ruined Ruins All over the globe, temples, ancient settlements and other artifacts stand as monuments to civilizations past that until now have withstood the tests of time. But the immediate effects of global warming may finally do them in. Rising seas and more extreme weather have the potential to damage irreplaceable sites. Floods attributed to global warming have already damaged a 600-year-old site, Sukhothai, which was once the capital of a Thai kingdom. 5. Survival of the Fittest As global warming brings an earlier start to spring, the early bird might not just get the worm. It might also get its genes passed on to the next generation. Because plants bloom earlier in the year, animals that wait until their usual time to migrate might miss out on all the food. Those who can reset their internal clocks and set out earlier stand a better chance at having offspring that survive and thus pass on their genetic information, thereby ultimately changing the genetic profile of their entire population. 4. Shrinking Specimens As temperatures rise, it looks like some species might be shrinking. The shift to the small seems to be happening on the scale of whole communities as well as individual animals: Smaller species are winning out over larger ones; more young animals seem to be present, and some animals seem to be getting smaller for their age. The effect has been seen in both fish and Scottish sheep. 3. Speedier Satellites Carbon dioxide emissions on Earth are even having effects in space. Air in the atmosphere's outermost layer is very thin, but air molecules still create drag that slows down satellites, requiring engineers to periodically boost them back into their proper orbits. But the amount of carbon dioxide up there is increasing. And while carbon dioxide molecules in the lower atmosphere release energy as heat when they collide, thereby warming the air, the sparser molecules in the upper atmosphere collide less frequently and tend to radiate their energy away, cooling the air around them. With more carbon dioxide up there, more cooling occurs, causing the air to settle. Thus, the atmosphere is less dense and creates less drag on satellites. 2. Rebounding Mountains Though the average hiker wouldn't notice, the Alps and other mountain ranges have experienced a gradual growth spurt over the past century or so thanks to the melting of the glaciers atop them. For thousands of years, the weight of these glaciers has pushed against the Earth's surface, causing it to depress. As the glaciers melt, this weight is lifting, and the surface is slowly springing back. Because global warming speeds up the melting of these glaciers, the mountains are rebounding faster. 1. Forest Fire Frenzy While it's melting glaciers and creating more intense hurricanes, global warming also seems to be heating up forest fires in the United States. In western states over the past few decades, more wildfires have blazed across the countryside, burning more area for longer periods of time.
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