Does Global Warming Destroy the Environment?

Global warming is a significant challenge that results in climate change. Global warming stresses the environment through temperature rises, ocean acidification, droughts, and extreme weather events. Learning about the influence of global warming on the environment is significant to understand how the phenomenon affects us and our surroundings. People can then proceed to develop corrective measures that will mitigate the impact of global warming. The speech will demonstrate that global warming is a significant global crisis that must be addressed to avoid disastrous implications. Global warming increases carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, which retains additional heat from the sun. This extra heat raises the earth's temperature, resulting in the melting of the glaciers and Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets. This, in turn, increases sea level. The additional carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean, resulting in acidification. Aside from this, global warming results in unpredictable weather conditions and heat waves that are also harmful to the environment.

Rising Sea Levels

Global warming has resulted in a rise in sea level. The increase in global warming has reduced land ice in the artic by nearly 287 billion metric tons every year (Sivaramanan, 2015). The article ice melts at a rate of 13.3 percent per decade. As a consequence, the sea level rises by 3.2 mm every year. Aside from this, sea level can also rise because seawater expands due to global warming and occupies more space on the ocean basis (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2020). This is because the seas absorb over 90 percent of heath caused by global warming. Climate change resulting from global warming expands seawater to expand, which results in the rise in sea level. Additionally, global warming has led to the melting of glaciers and sea ice. These factors have contributed to the rise in sea level.

The rise in sea level has had a significant impact on the environment. The rise in sea levels has had a devastating effect on coastal ecosystems farther inland. Additionally, it can result in wetland flooding, destructive erosion, habitat loss for plants, birds, fish, and agricultural soil and aquifer contamination with salt (Nunez, 2019). Higher sea levels are also associated with typhoons and hurricanes, which have a substantial influence on the environment and also causes the destruction of properties and loss of lives. A study conducted revealed that almost 50 percent of deaths from the Atlantic between 1963 and 2012 can be attributed to hurricanes caused by storm surges. The rise in sea level has adversely impacted the environment. 

Acidic Oceans

The rise in carbon dioxide levels has contributed to global warming. According to Sivaramanan (2015), carbon dioxide levels have reached 400.71 parts per billion. Global warming happens when carbon dioxide, among other greenhouse gases, collect in the atmosphere. Once in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide absorbs solar radiation and sunlight bounced off the earth's surface. The ocean usually absorbs carbon dioxide in the environment, and this typically results in acidic oceans. According to Hoegh-Guldberg et al. (2018), the sea has absorbed approximately 30 percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide leading to acidification. This has resulted in a change in the ocean's carbonate chemist that is unprecedented for the last sixty-five million years. Global warming has also resulted in ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification has a significant impact on the environment. Studies reveal that acidic oceans pose a substantial threat to the calcification, survival, abundance, growth, and development of a wide assortment of marine taxonomic growth, including algae and fish (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2018). The rising sea level, warming of oceans, and acidification impact a wide range of ecosystems and marine life and sectors such as fisheries and aquaculture. Carbon dioxide reduced the PH of ocean water and results in the formation of carbonic acid. And the acidic ocean is not good for much marine life. Global warming is associated with oceanic acidification, which threatens the existence of numerous marine species.

Hotter Days

Global warming is enhancing the extreme environment temperature rise. According to IPCC and NASA research, the global temperature has rose by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880 (Sivaramanan, 2015). Extreme heat is becoming prevalent. Global warming has resulted in increased global temperature, melting glaciers, thermal expansion of the sea, and loss of the Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets. Aside from this, global warming has resulted in frequent heatwaves and has also increased marine heatwaves (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2018). Research indicates that the number of extremely hot days in the tropics are expected to increase. Global warming has increased the frequency and duration of heatwaves.

Heatwaves have resulted in a significant threat to human lives. According to NOAA findings, heatwaves result in twice as many deaths in the United States as other weather hazards (Berardelli, 2019). As the climate continues to change and global warming persists, these heatwaves' frequency and duration could increase. This could also increase the number of fatalities associated with heatwaves. There has been a substantial increase in regional climate change by approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial period (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2018). If climate change is not contained, the severity of heatwaves will become worse.

Unpredictable Weather Patterns

Global warming can result in extreme weather patterns. According to Seneviratne et al. (2012), a harsh climate or weather is the occurrence of a climate or a weather variable below or above a threshold value near the lower or upper end of the range of observed values variable. Many unpredicted climate and weather extremes result from natural climate variability, for instance, phenomena such as typhoons, monsoon, and El Nino. Climate change and global warming have resulted in substantial changes in the frequency, duration, intensity, spatial extent, and weather timing. Unpredictable and extreme weather patterns have adversely impacted society. 

Extreme and unpredictable weather patterns adversely impact the environment. The mean sea level rise underwrites the upwards trends in excessive coastal high water levels. The rise in sea level increases the frequency and intensity of typhoons and hurricanes, which result in human fatalities and the destruction of properties. The rise in sea level has also contributed to floods that cause erosion. Global warming will also result in severe droughts around the globe. According to Seneviratne et al. (2012), droughts will intensify in some areas during some seasons. Regions that will be adversely affected by drought in the twenty-first century include southern Africa, northeast Brazil, North America, Mexico, Central America, and Central and southern Europe. Global warming has resulted in unpredictable weather patterns that adversely affect the environment. 

Conclusion

Global warming has resulted in climate change, which has adversely impacted the environment. Global warming raises the earth's temperature, which results in ice melting in the glaciers and thermal expansion of the ocean. In turn, this raises sea level that creates typhoons and hurricanes that cause erosions and destroy habitats for other species. Global warming is associated with high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The seawater absorbs 30 percent of this carbon dioxide, and it lowers its PH. Acidic oceans kill marine creatures because most marine species cannot survive in an environment with low PH. Global warming also results in high-intensity heat waves that have resulted in numerous fatalities in the U.S. The phenomenon also results in unpredicted weather patterns that result in the monsoon, El Nino, and droughts. Global leaders need to unite and develop comprehensive initiatives that can be implemented to prevent the impact of global warming on the environment.

References

Berardelli, J. (2019). Heat Waves and Climate Change: Is There a Connection. Yale School of Environment , https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/06/heat-waves-and-climate-change-is-there-a-connection/

Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Jacob, D., Bindi, M., Brown, S., Camilloni, I., Diedhiou, A., & Hijioka, Y. (2018). Impacts of 1.5 C Global Warming on Natural and Human Systems. Global Warming Of 1.5° C. An IPCC Special Report.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2020). How is sea-level rise related to climate change? U.S. Department of Commerce , https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevelclimate.html#:~:text=First%2C%20as%20the%20oceans%20warm,adds%20water%20to%20the%20ocean.

Nunez, C. (2019). Sea Level Rise, Explained. National Geographic , https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/#:~:text=When%20sea%20levels%20rise%20as,fish%2C%20birds%2C%20and%20plants. 

Seneviratne, S., Nicholls, N., Easterling, D., Goodess, C., Kanae, S., Kossin, J., & Reichstein, M. (2012). Changes in Climate Extremes and Their Impacts on the Natural Physical Environment.

Sivaramanan, S. (2015). Global Warming and Climate Change Causes, Impacts, and Mitigation. DOI:  10.13140/RG.2.1.4889.7128