Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List

One of the biggest issues facing us right now is global warming. Its effects on animals and on agriculture are indeed frightening, and the effects on the human population are even scarier. The facts about global warming are often debated in politics and the media, but, unfortunately, even if we disagree about the causes, global warming effects are real, global, and measurable. The causes are mainly from us, the human race, and the effects on us will be severe.

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Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List

Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants

1. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants

Our ever increasing addiction to electricity from coal burning power plants releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions come from electricity production, and burning coal accounts for 93% of emissions from the electric utility industry [EPA, pg. 10]. Every day, more electric gadgets flood the market, and without widespread alternative energy sources, we are highly dependent on burning coal for our personal and commercial electrical supply.

Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from burning gasoline for transportation

2. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from burning gasoline for transportation

Our modern car culture and appetite for globally sourced goods is responsible for about 33% of emissions in the U.S. [EPA pg. 8] With our population growing at an alarming rate, the demand for more cars and consumer goods means that we are increasing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing. Our consumption is outpacing our discoveries of ways to mitigate the effects, with no end in sight to our massive consumer culture.

Global Warming Cause: Methane emissions from animals, agriculture such as rice paddies, and from Arctic seabeds

3. Global Warming Cause: Methane emissions from animals, agriculture such as rice paddies, and from Arctic seabeds

Methane is another extremely potent greenhouse gas, ranking right behind CO2. When organic matter is broken down by bacteria under oxygen-starved conditions (anaerobic decomposition) as in rice paddies, methane is produced. The process also takes place in the intestines of herbivorous animals, and with the increase in the amount of concentrated livestock production, the levels of methane released into the atmosphere is increasing. Another source of methane is methane clathrate, a compound containing large amounts of methane trapped in the crystal structure of ice. As methane escapes from the Arctic seabed, the rate of global warming will increase significantly.

Global Warming Cause: Deforestation, especially tropical forests for wood, pulp, and farmland

4. Global Warming Cause: Deforestation, especially tropical forests for wood, pulp, and farmland

The use of forests for fuel (both wood and for charcoal) is one cause of deforestation, but in the first world, our appetite for wood and paper products, our consumption of livestock grazed on former forest land, and the use of tropical forest lands for commodities like palm oil plantations contributes to the mass deforestation of our world. Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and this deforestation releases large amounts of carbon, as well as reducing the amount of carbon capture on the planet.

Global Warming Cause: Increase in usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands

5. Global Warming Cause: Increase in usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands

In the last half of the 20th century, the use of chemical fertilizers (as opposed to the historical use of animal manure) has risen dramatically. The high rate of application of nitrogen-rich fertilizers has effects on the heat storage of cropland (nitrogen oxides have 300 times more heat-trapping capacity per unit of volume than carbon dioxide) and the run-off of excess fertilizers creates ‘dead-zones’ in our oceans. In addition to these effects, high nitrate levels in groundwater due to over-fertilization are cause for concern for human health.

Global Warming Effect: Rise in sea levels worldwide

6. Global Warming Effect: Rise in sea levels worldwide

Scientists predict an increase in sea levels worldwide due to the melting of two massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, especially on the East coast of the U.S. However, many nations around the world will experience the effects of rising sea levels, which could displace millions of people. One nation, the Maldives, is already looking for a new home, thanks to rising sea levels.

Global Warming Effect: More killer storms

7. Global Warming Effect: More killer storms

The severity of storms such as hurricanes and cyclones is increasing, and research published in Nature found:

“Scientists have come up with the firmest evidence so far that global warming will significantly increase the intensity of the most extreme storms worldwide. The maximum wind speeds of the strongest tropical cyclones have increased significantly since 1981, according to research published in Nature this week. And the upward trend, thought to be driven by rising ocean temperatures, is unlikely to stop at any time soon.”

Global Warming Effect: Massive crop failures

8. Global Warming Effect: Massive crop failures

According to recent research, there is a 90% chance that 3 billion people worldwide will have to choose between moving their families to milder climes and going hungry due to climate change within 100 years. One of the main causes of this will be the spread of desertification, and its accompanying effects.

“Climate change is expected to have the most severe impact on water supplies. “Shortages in future are likely to threaten food production, reduce sanitation, hinder economic development and damage ecosystems. It causes more violent swings between floods and droughts.”” – Guardian: Global warming causes 300,000 deaths a year

Global Warming Effect: Widespread extinction of species

9. Global Warming Effect: Widespread extinction of species

According to research published in Nature, by 2050, rising temperatures could lead to the extinction of more than a million species. And because we can’t exist without a diverse population of species on Earth, this is scary news for humans.

This 6th mass extinction is really just a continuation of the holocene extinction which began at the end of the last ice age and has resulted in the extinction of nearly all of the Earth’s megafauna animals, largely as a result of human-expansion.

“Climate change now represents at least as great a threat to the number of species surviving on Earth as habitat-destruction and modification.” Chris Thomas, conservation biologist at the University of Leeds

Widespread species loss and lists of endangered species just keep growing. This is a concerning matter on many fronts.

Global Warming Effect: Disappearance of coral reefs

10. Global Warming Effect: Disappearance of coral reefs

A report on coral reefs from WWF says that in a worst case scenario, coral populations will collapse by 2100 due to increased temperatures and ocean acidification and its effects. The ‘bleaching’ of corals from small but prolonged rises in sea temperature is a severe danger for ocean ecosystems, and many other species in the oceans rely on coral reefs for their survival.

“Despite the oceans’s immensity — 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface with an average depth of almost 4km (2½m) — there are indications that it is approaching its tipping point. For reefs, warming waters and acidification are closing in like a pair of jaws that threaten to make them the first global ecosystem to disappear.” – Times Online: 21st-century Noah’s Ark needed to save coral reefs from extinction

Read more about global warming effects and causes:

Image Credits: FlyingSinger, Mikael Miettinen, Simone Ramella, net_efekt, Ben Sutherland, nattu, CoreBurn, brankomasterLars K. Jensen, and Veritas Lux via Flickr under Creative Commons License

52 thoughts on “Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List”

  1. Eric Alan Geller

    Volcanoes are a big cause of CO2 as well correct?

    Growing Cannabis everywhere for fuel, food, clothes, and building supplies, is probably a good start.

  2. We should act now by educating
    people on reforestation programs by initiating “eco-tourism” trips to various
    main forests, Car
    owners have to switch to natural gas and we should help in conserving energy

  3. We should act now by educating
    people on reforestation programs by initiating “eco-tourism” trips to various
    main forests, Car
    owners have to switch to natural gas and we should help in conserving energy

  4. If I sell my SUV and buy a fuel efficient car, my SUV will still be driven by someone. How does that help global warming?

  5. Carbon
    dioxide in the atmosphere

    ·        
    Carbon
    moves into and out of the atmosphere due to plants, animals, the oceans and
    rocks.

    ·        
    The
    amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has risen in the recent past
    largely due to the amount of fossil fuels we now burn.

     

     

                Infrared radiation

    ·        
    Infrared
    radiation is energy transfer by electromagnetic waves

    ·        
    All
    objects emit infrared radiation

    ·        
    The
    hotter the object is the more infrared radiation it emits in a given time.

     

  6. Carbon
    dioxide in the atmosphere

    ·        
    Carbon
    moves into and out of the atmosphere due to plants, animals, the oceans and
    rocks.

    ·        
    The
    amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has risen in the recent past
    largely due to the amount of fossil fuels we now burn.

     

     

                Infrared radiation

    ·        
    Infrared
    radiation is energy transfer by electromagnetic waves

    ·        
    All
    objects emit infrared radiation

    ·        
    The
    hotter the object is the more infrared radiation it emits in a given time.

     

  7. One thing that causes by global warming is electricity pollution and it is very likely caused by mankind.

  8. Florence Eaise

    OK so now we all know whats causing global warming , the real question is how many of you are willing to change? Im ready!! Please join me for all our sakes!

    1. yeh i am going to change gonna to get a bigger car a gas guzzler start using my coal fire again and use the dirtiest coal i can find and forget that recycling rubbish i am going to have a huge carbon foot print so you know where you can stick you global warming right up your a**e

      1. Icetrout- You’re obviously a very mad, ignorant, strange soul by making such absorb comments. You need to get a therapist ASAP otherwise you’re gonna go more physco by the min. p.s. this is are facts don’t take it personal.

    2. Am a student and this website helped me a lot during my research about the causes and the effects of global warming. I have known now and I will also help those who are not aware of all the causes and the dangerous effects of global warming. Lets RESPECT our environment.

  9. this article is the same old rubbish preached by doom and gloom global warming activists. planet earth heats up and cools down through natural cycles and it been doing so for millions of years man plays no part in this cycle so to say man is causing global warming is an outright lie in fact the global temp has not risen in the last 10 years they also say the sea ice is melting yes that normaly happens in the summer months then refreezes in the winter its all a huge lie seized on by so called climate researchers looking for the big grants and governments using it as an excuse to pile on more taxes on to hard working people .

    1. 1. “Climate reacts to whatever forces it to change at the time; humans are now the dominant forcing.”: http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm

      It’s clear beyond a doubt that humans are causing the warming: http://planetsave.com/2012/01/19/what-is-causing-global-warming/

      2. The issue isn’t that sea ice is melting in summer. It’s that LAND ice is melting. http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm

      Even oil companies and shipping companies and entire countries are now putting money into plans and investments based on the likelihood that the North Pole will be completely ice-free in summertime in the future. You think they’d be doing that if the science weren’t clear?

    2. Your right the earth’s temperatures have been rising and falling for millions of years. And the idea that the world’s not going to be around if this happens is just silly, not that you said this, but that’s the idea you hear often. What is not silly though is the idea that this earth can at any time shake us off itself at anytime it wants to. Like a dog shaking bugs off of him. We have the job to make sure to not get shacked off. We do not want to be the dianosurs, or any other spiices in that millions of years of existence that are now not here. It’s our job to make sure we take care of this earth so it’s not our fault that our existence does not continue. there are very logical explanations on how global warming is real, but even if you don’t believe, why not just take care of earth. Why take the chance that global warming is not real? Why add to the millions of years of temperature change with the idea that we could be helping in this change?

  10. as a citizen of the world i truely hope the U.S.A. turns to solar,geothermal and windmills as our source of electric ! good deal mayor ballard got re-elected as indianapolis has some 60 mile of bike route thru indy. people should have listened to president jimmy carter after he installed solar panels on the white house.LORD bless planet earth always and guide all nations towards a solution on behalf of all inhabitants of planet earth amen.

  11. i think the cause of global warming is the trash we throw out do you know that the fums and STANK of our garbage is also poluting our air and probably twice as bad as the plantations!!!

  12. I do really believed that global warming will happen and it is now starting like for instance the flood in Australia.We can now feel the revenge of the nature,where human causes itself.This is really bad for us,we cannot escape the reality that human did in the environment.I hope the leaders all over the country would find ways on how to take actions regarding this matter.

  13. Global warming isnt about god or any other type of religion! i dont care if you believe it or not but its happening and no matter you a good or bad person it will effect all of us!! So just do simple things to help stop or slow down the effects of global warming cause i dont want to die because you think this is gods work. Global warming is real and it IS happening.

  14. I completely agree, we need to take drastic action in order to save this plaent and stop global warming.

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