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Global Warming Essay

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Global Warming

Two issues that worry many scientists are global warming and the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the earth at temperatures that are livable. What does the greenhouse effect have to do with global warming? When humans release gases into the air, the greenhouse effect will alter the temperature of the earth. More gases in the atmosphere means the earth will start to get warmer, and the result is global warming. On the other hand, if there was no greenhouse effect, the earth would be too cold for humans to comfortably exist.

In order to talk about global warming, we must first learn what causes the greenhouse effect. The three most common greenhouse gases are water …show more content…

Once that water is in the atmosphere, it’s going to come down somewhere – and, indeed, we have seen the most dramatic flooding ever recorded in recent years. In 2004, 300 million humans, 1 in 20 of us, had to leave their homes for a week, a month, a year, or forever because of rising waters” (The Planet Speaks 124). Much of the gained water would be from melting icecaps in the ocean and melting glaciers on land. Coastal cities and islands could be wiped out.
Global warming would not affect only humans; it would also affect sea life. This would happen because water temperatures would rise. “Corals are intolerant of temperatures just a few degrees warmer than usual” (Fast Facts). There have been problems with corals dying out in the past few years because of increased water temperatures. Other marine life would probably migrate to warmer waters. The warm water would make them think they were in their natural habitat. A downfall to this unknown migration would be that food would become scarce in their new, unadapted habitat. An example is salmon; salmon are also sensitive to the temperature of the water. During the summer when the water is warm, salmon have a high metabolic rate. During the winter months, their metabolism slows down, which is good because less food is available at this time. With global warming and increased water

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