Effects of Climate Change and Global Warming - Essay Example

According to the Encyclopedia of Earth (2010), the average Northern American emits an average of 20 tons worth of CO2 equivalent in a year. Latin America hosts the world’s most biodiversity in its forests, the Amazon, which is currently facing a challenge due to the amount of deforestation taking place for the sake of construction projects (Global Change). The problems are not restricted to these two aspects, the industrial revolution and the government policies established to promote the industrial sector cause harmful gases to be released into the air which can cause acid rain.

This can cause several health hazards for a lot of people and even destroy structures with time. The effects of climate change and global warming are not isolated in a particular region or continent, it is a global issue and has caused numerous disasters across the world. Over the last 35 years, there has been a significant increase in the number of category 5 hurricanes which has been linked to the rising ocean temperatures due to the depletion of the ozone layer (NRDC). The weather extremes have also gone over the edge of the spectrum as droughts have now a higher probability of occurring.

Summer temperatures in certain regions such as Australia are already high but due to the steady rise in temperature wildfires are more prone to occur. Such fires have cost governments across the globe millions of dollars due to the extensive damages. The rainy season also becomes a threat as the recent floods in Australia, Brazil, Germany, and other countries led to intense levels of flooding and caused a large number of deaths. The effects are not confined to the human population alone but according to the National Resources Defense Council (2011), there could be an extinction of about 1 million species by the year 2050 if the current trend does not change its course.

It has also been brought to attention that due to the lesser number of ice floes in the polar caps, the polar bears are drowning as they cannot manage to swim long distances from one floe to another in search of food or shelter. Forests such as Bermudas mangrove forest are also slowly disappearing as the sea levels continue to rise while glaciers that sustain life are slowly melting. To avoid a complete upheaval in the natural order of the world there needs to be serious rethinking in the way of doing certain things.

There can be many legislative steps that can be taken to pen outlaws at a national and international level to maintain checks and balances on industries and other businesses to curb their output of harmful gases. Governments also need to stop the trend of sustaining themselves on non-renewable resources and look for cleaner and cheaper ways to maintain a steady energy source. Wind, solar, and hydropower are renewable and practical, especially for developing countries that have the resources and capital to be able to set up such plants.

Even nuclear power would cut down on the waste that is emitted in the air by coal and gas and oil burning but that does come with hazards of its own.