The Catastrophic Effects Of Global Warming - Research Paper Example

The Catastrophic Effects Of Global Warming Introduction Global warming is a term commonly used to describe the consequences of man- made pollutants overloading the naturally-occurring greenhouse gases causing an increase of the average global temperature, the subject of great debate and concern worldwide. This warming is causing the ice caps to melt in addition to many other climatic changes which will cause catastrophic consequences not only to people and property but to the health of the global economy as a whole. According to all peer-reviewed scientific studies, if the amount of greenhouse gasses being pumped into the air by factories, power plants and automobiles is not severely curtailed and soon, the earth and its inhabitants will suffer cataclysmic climatic and economic consequences in the near future. Land and Agricultural Effects The Process The effects of melting snow caps and the resulting rise of sea levels have been well documented. Other effects are known but not as universally. A reduction of snow cover in addition to lake and sea ice will have dire consequences for locations at higher latitudes and lower elevations, especially in the winter and spring months. At increased temperatures, the atmospheric water vapor and resulting precipitation will be proportionately higher (Wunderlich & Kohler, 2001). Cloud compositions will change which will amplify the greenhouse effect. The increased levels of precipitation because of the warming at the polar regions will increase the effect. Shifting vegetation patterns, types and regional variations, will cause major human adaptations, the degree to which is open to speculation. The elevated evaporation rate will hasten the drying effect of soil subsequent to rainfall which will result in drier conditions in many regions. Places that presently suffer through periodic drought conditions in the warmer months will be hardest hit. The more rapid water recycling rate will result in heavier rainfall amounts and the number of extreme rainfall events. Higher rainfall rates will cause increased tropical storm intensity in addition to the warmer temperatures. Hurricanes may be even more frequent and intense than presently predicted. As horrific as this near-future scenario is, it remains the land masses that will suffer the greatest changes as a result of the greenhouse effect. “Temperatures are expected to increase more rapidly over land compared to oceans because of the ocean’s higher heat capacity and because it can transfer more of the trapped heat to the atmosphere by evaporation. Over land, the warming has been and is expected to continue to be larger during nighttime than during daytime” (Wunderlich & Kohler, 2001). Crop Depletion While the world awaits the inevitable far-reaching effects associated with greenhouse gas emissions, people’s lungs are being poisoned as the plants they depend on for near-term survival are being destroyed. Pollutants cause immediate and irreparable damage to the leaf pores of plants and trees. Persistent exposure of leaves to air pollutants breaks down the waxy coating which normally acts to prevent too much water loss and helps protects the leaves from diseases, pests, drought and frost. “In the Midwestern United States crop losses of wheat, corn, soybeans, and peanuts from damage by ozone and acid deposition amount to about $5 billion a year” (Miller, 1990, p. 498). Economic Concerns World leaders, outside of the U.S. have demonstrated a sense of urgency regarding global warming. The U.S. is lagging behind in recognizing the problem. In addition it is behind in the technology involved in this growing alternative energy market as well. The consequences are potentially devastating for the economy of the U.S. and more importantly, the future sustainability of the world economy. The peripheral effects of global warming are practically impossible to quantify, however, there is no doubt the outcomes will be considerable. If climate change is not immediately addressed, and it may be too late, businesses and governments worldwide face serious financial consequences. These negative effects “may be present in the form of higher prices for products, because the prices of raw materials and energy, transport, insurance and taxes increase.” (Matthias, et al., 2007). As the effects of global warming are experienced, the cost of doing business will increase which will reduce the competitiveness of businesses. Additionally, entire regions of countries will decline by varying degrees. Along with the decline of business, unemployment will rise while economic and national security lessens. Tax dollars will be diverted by necessity to more pressing issues. In 1988, for example, a drought in the Midwest U.S. cost that region about $50 billion. “The effects of climate change will likely place immense strains on public budgets, particularly as the cost of infrastructure maintenance and replacement increases. At the same time, economic losses may translate into lost tax revenues.” (Matthias, et al., 2007) Governments will be forces to reduce social services, furthering the total misery factor. Geographic Dilemmas Sea Level The horrific events involving southern sections of Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 when rising ocean levels destroyed property and displaced thousands of citizens will repeat on a global scale if predictions of future climate change and ensuing sea-level rise are accurate. Scientists universally forecast that global warming will melt glaciers causing a rise of sea-levels which will hasten erosion resulting in the loss of vast areas of land. The change will bring about elevated storm surges thereby increasing the areas affected by flooding from heavy rain which introduces even more coastal lands to erosion and permits ocean water to infiltrate into rivers upstream of communities that they once served. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the seas surrounding the United States will rise by about 20 inches by the year 2100 and anywhere from six to 38 inches in other regions of the world. The seas are currently rising along the Atlantic coast of the United States by a tenth of an inch per year and about half that amount on the Pacific coast. Scientists warn that the consequences will be catastrophic if the current trend continues and estimate that a one-foot rise in sea level could wear away up to 200 feet of the Eastern coastline, 400 feet on the West coast and several miles into Louisiana. A 20-inch sea-level rise could abolish up to 40 percent of U.S. coastal wetlands, a three-foot rise would submerge an area the size of Massachusetts. Of course the rise in sea level would displace an untold number of people all along all coasts in all parts of the world. “Environmental degradation may produce vast numbers of ‘environmental refugees.’” (Homer-Dixon, 1991). Coastal Region Since before the beginning of time, coastal lands have been exposed to erosion from movements of the waves but the eroded sediments have been re-deposited. Shores change in shape but do not vanish altogether much the same as inland areas which are also susceptible to erosion; the land is deposited elsewhere but not lost. A gradual rise in sea level this past century has pushed the tide-line further inland, submerging coastal lands and causing progressive erosion. The tidal wetlands and beaches gradually migrate inland as assorted plant life grows upon newly formed beaches creating a new contracted shoreline. The extent of coastal change is determined by the topography of the land close to the shore. If there is a sudden change in elevation between the shore and the inlands, such as in coastal Louisiana, tidal wetlands will be lost. “The tide comes and goes like clockwork, but if we continue to watch and wait, our coastal regions will face more erosion damage than we can repair, and the sea’s gentle image might be changed in the eyes of those affected” (Spyres, 2001). Around the World The rise in sea level will drive South Americans inland further depleting greater regions of the Amazon Rain Forest. In Africa, the Sahara Desert will expand forcing current inhabitants of areas surrounding the Desert southward while the Delta region of Egypt will also be abandoned. Fishermen of Southeast Asia and the entire eastern pacific Asian will abandon fishing areas for already overpopulated and under-resourced inland cities. Billions will be negatively affected. Studies in the UK have found that warming could increase rainfall by more than 20 percent during the winter by the 2080’s and decrease it by the same amount during summer months in the southern half of that country. This would cause severe droughts in some regions but areas such as East Anglia, a very low-lying region on the east coast of England, could very well be under water altogether. Population Shifts Migration strategies of those millions of persons now occupying coastal regions and others affected by changing vegetation patterns is highly speculative outside of the fact that those living by the seas must migrate inland. However, by reviewing relatively recent examples of mass human migrations, it becomes evident that many peripheral elements are involved. It’s not simply a matter of those with beach property having to move inland, a common misconception of the potential problems. Many instances of great population movements have occurred during the past 60 years due to the exhaustion of resources in areas experiencing accelerated birth rates, depreciated agricultural conditions and erratic climatic changes. The lack of adequate amounts of food and housing as well as religious, political or ethnic conflicts have forced millions to migrate elsewhere causing indirect and devastating effects to the regions they inhabit. Desperate people flooding into another populated area quickly deplete the resources of that region causing a catastrophic domino effect throughout the rest of the world. A five inch rise in sea level resulting from would force millions in India alone to migrate northward to regions that are hardly able to absorb an avalanche of humanity in this magnitude. Recent history has demonstrated that the spread of disease is always a byproduct of mass migrations. “Migrants carry the diseases of their place of origin to their destinations and, once there, they may be susceptible to diseases that they had not previously experienced. Often they live outside the established social system and may not have access to adequate health-care services” (Homer-Dixon, 1991). Industrial Implications The film by Al Gore An Inconvenient Truth is pointed directly at citizens and politicians of the U.S. who are either unaware or keep on denying global warming exists except in the minds of environmentalists. To correct misunderstanding, Gore spends the entire movie analyzing the ideas that the big oil companies keep putting out that argue global warming isn’t happening. According to the oil and car companies, the planet’s climate is experiencing a normal cycle of change that has nothing to do with technology. Television commercials in the U.S. distributed by the oil and gas companies show how CO2 is an essential part of the economy and a central element of the cycle of life itself and therefore should not be regulated. “Gore debunks the wishful thinking that all of this climate change is simply cyclical and will cure itself” (Goldstein, 2006). But Gore argues that new industries and technologies that supply solar, nuclear, wind and battery power will replace any jobs lost by the old pollution producing industries and probably produce more. The economy will be improved by aggressively pursuing alternate energy sources. One alternative will likely consider is the substitution of vegetable oil for crude oil. Brazil began converting to ethanol in the 1970’s and today does not import a drop of oil. Britain and other countries of Western Europe are following suit. Iceland is already well on its way to becoming the first nation to generate its power needs by means of hydrogen fuel-cells and France is leading the way in building nuclear power plants (“Alternatives to Oil”, 2002). Conclusion Auto companies in particular lobby against regulating automobile emissions claiming that it is not economically feasible for them. This is simply untrue because countries such as Japan, Korea and China have much stricter emission standards than the U.S. yet these country’s car sales are up while U.S. automakers are down. The economic consequence of doing nothing is far greater than solving the problem through legislation. If ‘we’ choose not to do anything or to insist a problem does not exist, there will cease to be a ‘we’ as weather patterns become overtly hostile and air, water and food supplies will either become non-existent or too poisonous to sustain life. If the earth cannot sustain human life, the automakers will not make any money. Maybe that is an argument they can understand. Image by NASA (2006) Outline: I. Introduction II. Land and Agricultural Effects A. The Process B. Crop Depletion III. Economic Concerns IV. Geographic Dilemmas A. Sea Level B. Coastal Region C. Around the World V. Industrial Implications VI. Conclusion Works Cited “Alternatives to Oil.” Disposable Planet? BBC News UK. (2002). March 27, 2009 Goldstein, Gary. “An Inconvenient Truth.” Reel.com. (2006). March 27, 2009 Homer-Dixon, Thomas. “Environmental changes as causes of acute conflict. International. Security” pp. 76-116 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Journals. (Fall, 1991). March 27, 2009 Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment: An Introduction to Environmental Science. Belmont: Wadsworth. (1990). NASA “Global Warming Graph and Map Information” Geology News - Earth Science Current Events (January 30, 2006). March 27, 2009 Matthias, Ruth; Weston, Roy F.; Coelho, Dana; Karetnikov, Daria “The US Economic Impacts of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction” A Review and Assessment by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER) at the University of Maryland (October 2007). March 27, 2009 Spyres, Julie. “The Rising Tide: Global Warming Accelerates Coastal Erosion.” Erosion Control. Santa Barbara, CA: Forester Communications. (2001). Wunderlich, Gooloo S.; Kohler, Peter O. Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care. The National Academies Press (2001). p.18. Read More