Cause And Effect For Global Warming

In this article we will examine the cause and effect for global warming. Global warming is a very disturbing phenomenon, that relates to the warming of the earth due to the greenhouse effect. The carbon dioxide that all our transportation vehicles and industrial plants are emitting is a greenhouse gas, and when its level increases to a certain point as it is now, and beyond, than the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is so high that it practically traps the sun rays (that have bounced of the Earth's surface) that would otherwise dissipate into space. As a result of this, the temperature of the atmosphere increases and we are exhibiting global warming.

Newton's second law is all about cause-and-effect. Everything in the universe applies to the law of cause & effect. When you apply certain amount of force, a force with the same power but opposite direction will occur, because every system seeks equilibrium. And that's exactly what's happening with the Earth's climate.

The force that we are applying is the CO2 emissions, and the effect that we are getting is global warming and all of its consequences. And let's just remind ourselves some of them:

- Half of the world's wetlands were lost last century.

- Logging and conversion have shrunk the world's forests by as much as half.

- Soil degradation has affected two-thirds of the world's agricultural lands in the last 50 years.

- The Arctic ice is about to completely melt in 30 years. Right now it acts like a giant mirror keeping the earth cooler by reflecting about 90% of the sun heat. As the surrounding waters get warmer, the ice will melt even faster.

- Earth's poles manage the ocean and wind currents that have been formed over the past thousands of years. Global warming is about to change all that for the worse.

- Acidification of the Ocean. The world's oceans soak up much of the carbon dioxide produced by living organisms, either as dissolved gas, or in the skeletons of tiny marine creatures that fall to the bottom to become chalk or limestone. Oceans currently absorb about one metric tone of CO2 per person per year. It is estimated that the oceans have absorbed around half of all CO2 generated by human activities since 1800 (120,000,000,000 tones or 120 petagrams of carbon). But in water, carbon dioxide becomes a weak carbonic acid, which means there is an increased pH level in the ocean water and the effect of all that is also well know - dead coral reefs. Here is another global warming cause and effect stat - 16% of the world's coral reefs have died from bleaching since 1998.