Global warming refers to the increase in average global temperatures over a period of time. It is attributed that the earth’s temperatures have been increasing rapidly for the last 50 years. From the year 2000 increase in the temperature recorded spiked to an all-time higher showing that the rate of global warming had tremendously increased compared to the previous years. Scientist claims that unless global-warming emissions are curbed, the average US temperatures are predicted to rise by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century (Thomas et al., 2015). The major cause of global warming is emissions from coal burning power plants to produce electricity. The emissions from these plants are responsible for trapping the heat in the earth atmosphere making it hotter an effect referred to as green-house effect. Coal power plants are ranked as the highest air pollutants. They produce about 2 billion tons of CO2 emission per year (Thomas et al., 2015). The transport sector comes in second place in production of heat-trapping pollution. It is estimated to produce about 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions per year (Thomas et al., 2015). The third cause of global warming is destruction of forest. While it may seem insignificant but reduction in forest covers have affected and disrupted the ecosystem. Plants take in CO2 and release oxygen and when these plants are reduced the intake of CO2 decreases as well as release of oxygen. This means there is a lot of CO2 that is left in the atmosphere. In order to curb global warming, stringent measures have to be put in place. Deep cuts in emissions of fossil fuels is a mandatory measure as it is among the leading causes of global warming. Furthermore, exploring alternative sources of energy will ensure emissions of pollutant gases is reduced significantly. Planting more trees to increase the forest cover and protecting the existing forests will help in trying to establish a balance between CO2 production and oxygen released in the ecosystem. Global warming is a threat to us all and all our efforts are required to protect and conserve our planet.
References
Karl, T. R., Arguez, A., Huang, B., Lawrimore, J. H., McMahon, J. R., Menne, M. J., ... & Zhang, H. M. (2015). Possible artifacts of data biases in the recent global surface warming hiatus. Science, aaa5632.
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