Global Warming Effects

What Are The Primary Global Warming Effects

The global warming effects can be as varied as the arguments both for and against the theory of global warming itself. The basic idea of global warming is that the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere has increased due to human activity. Human activities involve many different types of emissions into the atmosphere. It has been argued that the effects of global warming have been caused by factory pollution, automobile emissions, vegetation removal, and many other human activities. Some of the primary effects expected of global warming are noted in the following.

The primary global warming effect is, well, heat. Much of man's industrial activity involves combustion of some kind, and that may be a contributor. The main global warming heat effects are expected to be from the gases emitted by these combustion activities. When fossil fuels are fully combusted, the only products are carbon dioxide and water vapor, two main greenhouse gases. However, no vehicle, factory, or coal-burning generator is 100% efficient! Many types of emissions are created, including particulates, unburned fuel, ozone, and hundreds of others. The primary global warming effect of these increased gases is to trap heat in the atmosphere.

The effects of global warming greenhouse gases can be illustrated by this example. Energy from the sun heats the earth from millions of miles away, making the planet a rather nice place to live. The surface of the earth gets heated during the day. At night, some of the absorbed heat is radiated back into space. If increased greenhouse gases are present, however, they act as a bed cover, keeping the heat close to the earth. The trapped heat continues to accumulate over the years, causing increased air temperatures, melting of polar ice, and other detrimental effects of global warming.

Why are these global warming-based effects bad? The may accelerate the pace of global warming itself! Polar ice is shiny, and reflects lots of heat back into space. When the ice melts, more heat is absorbed into the land and sea. Increased atmospheric temperatures may cause more powerful hurricanes. These warming effects may change forests into deserts, causing heat formerly captured by trees to be even further absorbed by the now-bare earth. It is possible for the individual global warming effects to act in such a way that they are even more powerful than the individual effects alone.