Global Warming and Human Impact: Pros and Cons Term Paper

Global warming is a crucial point for discussions around the whole world. Though not many people pay their attention to climate change, they cannot neglect their dependence on the weather and the natural conditions they have to live under. The world is changing due to the effects of global warming, and people should understand their responsibility for these changes. There are many reasons for global warming, and human activities should not be defined as the only harmful aspect. There are many natural events, which cannot be controlled by humans, including the increase of gas movements in the atmosphere. Besides, a certain attention should be paid to the changes of the Arctic climate in the forms of temperature increase by 3-5 °C, the melting ice sheet in such places as Greenland, and significant changes in the ocean circulations (Taulavuori, 2013). Therefore, it is not enough to blame people for causing the alleged warming. It is important to comprehend the pros and cons of global warming and investigate different aspects of this complicated natural challenge. In this paper, a certain attention to such events as gas movements, temperature changes, and the raises of the oceans’ levels due to numerous human activities and the intentions to facilitate their lives by means of technologies will be discussed to support the presence of global warming in the modern world alongside with the fact that global warming is a natural event that cannot be avoided or predicted for sure because of the presence of natural storages of gases like in oceans or plants that does not support the idea of global warming because of human impact.

Pros to Support Global Warming as a Negative Outcome of Human Activities

Nowadays, people pay much attention to the discussions of global warming and the impact of humans on the development of this event. Up-to-date sources and recent investigations help to comprehend how crucial the correct direction of human activities could be. Still, people have to realize that the majority of their decisions and the intentions to improve their lives lead to significant changes in the environment. There is a number of pros of global warming that could be used to support the idea that human activities have a certain impact on the quality of life and the changes that have occurred recently. These points include the movement of gases in the atmosphere as a result of certain human activities, the increase of the temperature because of greenhouse gas emissions, and the rise of the oceans’ level that is caused by warmer temperatures in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gas Effects on the Environment

The movement of gases that occurs between the atmosphere and the sea is a well-known fact that cannot be ignored (Drake, 2014). There are three dominating gases in the atmosphere, which are carbon dioxide (CO₂), oxygen (O₂), and nitrogen (N₂). The presence of CO₂ is considerable and could be explained by the necessity to burn fossil fuels or the inability to control forest fires. The movement of this gas is explained in Figure 1 that proves its transformations in different parts of the same climate system (Drake, 2014).

There are many investigations where the effects and the movement of CO₂ are discussed proving it as a crucial component of such processes like photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration (The Royal Society, 2015). Human activities define the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere. People cannot stop burning fossil fuels to obtain the required portion of energy for living. Therefore, people cannot stop releasing huge amounts of harmful gases to the atmosphere. Besides, people continue supporting the idea of deforestation in order to get more free land and build new constructions and places for living. The result of such activities is a considerable decrease of plants which promote the development of photosynthesis that could protect the atmosphere from CO_2.

Rising Temperatures as a Result of Gas Emissions

In addition to the greenhouse emissions caused by the movement of harmful gases in the atmosphere, it is also necessary to mention the evident changes in the temperature. When these changes are about 1^oF, they could hardly be observed and influence human lives or the environment. Many researchers connect such changes with the amount of heat produced by the sun and the possibility of the sunshine to dry out the soils (Trenberth et al., 2014). However, there are the changes that cannot be explained by the energy produced by the sun. In Figure 2, there is an example of the temperature anomalies during a certain period of time. It was the time when the global average surface temperature was dramatically changed and led to new ocean measurements (The Royal Society, 2015). The results show that during the last century, the surface temperature was increased by 1.4 ^oF. These changes are explained by the increased amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere (Shakun et al., 2012). Therefore, this connection may also be used as a supportive fact for global warming as a result of human activities.

Ocean Changes that Make People Worry

Finally, there is an evident observation that the levels of the oceans and seas have been considerably improved during the last centuries. Warming of the ocean, the increased sea level, and the decline of Arctic ice are the main climate effects (Dai, 2013; Rothe, 2015). However, such author as Sharma (2014) suggests using the idea of increased levels of oceans and seas as the possibility to save the planet and control the development of global warming. These changes and the increased amounts of water could convert the presence of CO₂ into O₂ in the atmosphere. The latest results obtained from different monitoring systems prove that Earth’s climate continues warming. The sea level has been raised considerably as it could be observed in Figure 3. These results also support the fact that global warming cannot be avoided, and its main cause is human activities that lead to temperature changes and the increased greenhouse gas effect.

However, the role of oceans in the environment could be defined as a positive impact, as well as a serious threat to people. The reason for such doubts is also known as ocean acidification. Human agricultural and manufacturing activities lead to the increase of CO₂. This gas is absorbed by the ocean in a considerable amount. As soon as the level of the ocean is increased, the threat of the concentration of CO₂ could also be increased.

Cons that Do not Support the Idea of Global Warming Caused by Humans

There is a thought that it is wrong to believe that global warming is only the negative outcome of human actions. Global warming may also be defined as a natural event that cannot be avoided or neglected. Therefore, it is expected to develop a small investigation and discuss the facts which may not support global warming as the outcome of human activities, but explain global warming as a natural event that is discussed by the researchers just in order to make people believe in the necessity to protect the environment and decrease the number of the possible harmful activities. The investigations of the Royal Society (2015) identify such natural causes of global warming as the variations in the Sun’s output, as well as the variations of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, different volcanic eruptions that cannot be controlled or stopped by people, and unpredictable fluctuations.

Besides, it is necessary to admit the already mentioned ocean acidification process. It proves that nature actually has many storage bins which could be introduced in different forms including the ocean and plants. Though people take numerous steps to prevent the development of such natural changes, it is impossible to achieve the desired success because the power of nature is impressive indeed in comparison to the power that could be introduced by people. Finally, people should neglect the fact that the number and the nature of such storages of gases could vary considerably. Sometimes, it is hard to find out these places and predict the possible power of its impact on the environment. Therefore, in general, it is wrong to believe that global warming is a complete fault of people. There are many events people have nothing in common with, and the natural causes that lead to global warming are in the top of the list of such events.

Personal Opinion on Global Warming and Human Effects

Global warming and its connection to human activities are two frequently discussed topics in all countries at different levels. Students share their opinions on why global warming should be investigated and taken into consideration. Researchers and environmental protectors develop new strategies to save the Earth and reduce the number of negative activities. Writers and bloggers develop their projects in order to inform people and make them think about the outcomes of their actions in regards to the environment they have to live in. I believe that people have a direct relation to such even as global warming because the number of manufacturing activities and the necessity to promote agriculture in society are two crucial steps that cannot be replaced or neglected. People are in need of energy and conveniences that are developed at the expense of certain natural resources. It is impossible to imagine this world without cars or other transportation means. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the greenhouse gas effect is the result of human activities. In this paper, a number of facts which support the connection of global warming and human activities are addressed, and personally, I believe in all of them.

Conclusion

In general, people should never forget that they are responsible for global warming that continues spreading on Earth. It is impossible to stop it due to a number of natural causes discussed in the paper. Still, it is always possible to reduce its volume regarding the effects of human activities and the attempts made to reduce them and improve the environment. Global warming is one of the long-term trends that require the investigation of weather patterns and the outcomes of human actions. Some people may enjoy the presence of warm weather outside, but they could hardly identify the real threats hidden behind such weather.

References

Dai, A. (2013). Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models. Nature Climate Change, 3(1), 52-58.

Drake. F. (2014). Global warming. New York, NY: Routledge.

Rothe, D. (2015). Securitizing global warming: A climate of complexity. New York, NY: Routledge.

Shakun, J. D., Clark, P. U., He, F., Marcott, S. A., Mix, A. C., Liu, Z.,… Bard, E. (2012). Global warming preceded by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations during the last deglaciation. Nature, 484(7392), 49-54.

Sharma, H. (2014). 50 FAQs on global warming: Know all about global warming and do your bit to limit it. New Delhi, India: The Energy & Resources Institute.

Taulavuori, K. (2013). Vegetation at northern high latitudes under global warming. In I. Dincer, C.O. Colpan, & F. Kadioglu (Eds.), Causes, impacts and solutions to global warming (pp. 3-16). New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.

The Royal Society. (2015). Climate change: Evidence & causes. Web.

Trenberth, K.E., Dai, A., Van Der Schrier, G., Jones, P.D., Barichivich, J., Briffa, K.R., & Sheffield, J. (2014). Global warming and changes in drought. Nature Climate Change, 4(1), 17-22.