Enviromental Change - Essay Example

Global warming has many greater effects other than melting ice caps and warmer winters. Its effects are escalating over the years and the climate is changing at a very rapid rate. If things are not changed around the earth is going to be a tough place to subsist in. Not just for us but for most animals and creatures. Global warming may be simply defined as the average increase in the earth's atmospheric temperature. Global temperatures have increased by 0.74 0.18C. This rise in temperature has many effects on the environment.

The polar ice caps are melting at a rapid rate and this will lead to a rise in sea level by about 1.3 meters within the next century (Carlson, 2008). For most glaciers worldwide, it is predicted that there will be an average volume loss of 60% by the year 2050 (Schneeberger, 2003). This melting can cause flash floods and overflowing of lakes. The changes in climate is leading to a change in the ecosystem.There will be an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. Places at lower altitudes are at a higher risk from climate change.

It is said that there will be lesser rainfall and an increase in the risk of drought in some places, while at some places the rainfall will increase. Global warming has many causes, which are split into two groups, natural causes and man-made or anthropogenic causes. Methane gas is a greenhouse gas and is naturally released from the tundra and wetland regions. A greenhouse gas is one which traps heat in the earths atmosphere. The man-made cause of global warming is basically pollution. Burning and mining of fossil fuels such as petroleum and coal.

Minning for fossil fuels releases methane which is found naturally in the earth. Burning of fossil fuels is the major cause of global warming. Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gasses such as CO2. Today cars are the main culprits and are responible for releasing 36% of the total amount of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Everyday cars emmit many tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere which leads to an increase in global warming. If swift action is not taken soon sceintists fear that there will be catastrophic consequences.

Cars are not going to go away. If anything the number of cars are going to increase. "Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) projections envisions that by 2025, there will have been between 82 and 142 per cent growth in national traffic over 1989 levels. In the UK bus, cycle and rail growth has been essentially stagnant since 1952, according to the DETR figures, but car traffic has increased enormously, from less than 100 billion kilometres a year to 600 billion in 1990(when it began to level off) " (Motavalli, 2001).

This increase in cars is leading to an increase in emmisions and so increase in greenhouse gasses which leads to thus car companys are taking an initiative and are developing hybrid cars. A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinctive power sources. Usually hybrid vehicles use an internal combustion engine along with some another eco-friendly source of power such as electric power. Now