nothing's gonna change my world

Global Warming

  We human beings are heating up our planet more than ever, and the outcomes of global warming have already affected our environments. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxides, help to keep our globe in a warm and congenial temperature for lives. However, our planet is now getting too warm due to overly human developments. By burning fossil fuels and clearing forests, we have produced excess amount of greenhouse gases that violates the environments unnaturally. While doing my research on this topic, it is amazing to discover that, in recent five years, at least 200 cities such as London, Taipei, and Shanghai have broken their hottest temperature records which have held for 10 to hundred years. That is, the global warming is happening, and it is indeed altering our environments. It has brought us unexpected effects to our climates, dramatic changes to our terrain features, and unrecoverable damages to our ecosystems.
  First, rising temperature has not only brought us a warmer atmosphere, but also made our climate system run wild. Extreme weathers such as hot winters, early spring arrivals, tsunamis, heat waves, storms, heavy precipitations and droughts happen more frequently and more intense, and these are all considered to be related to global warming. For example, the number of heavy hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. (Emanuel, 2005) What’s more, people are now easily to compare that the temperatures are higher than before. This winter, we can find that most people in Taiwan still wear t-shirts and that only few cold currents visit our island. The winter comes later and many ski resorts in Europe are forced to close or use snowmakers because there are no enough snows for the visitors to ski. Sure, we can not link any particular climate event directly to global warming; however, it is undeniable that global warming is playing a really important role that triggers unusual climate patterns.
  Next, in response to global warming, our terrain features, especially in the Polar Regions, alter sharply in comparison with the past few decades. Global warming accelerates ices near poles or in high mountains to melt. Last Friday, a huge chunk of ice bigger than the size of Manhattan broke from the ice shelf in Canada, which has been regarded as the biggest broke in recent 25 years. The same group of scientists also pointed out that the size of ice shelves in this region was ten times smaller than it used to be in 1906. (Jones, 2006) Global warming, once again, is one of the major causes. Researchers also discover the ice cap of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, has shrunken 75% since 1972, and might disappear in 15 years. (TIME, 2001) If we cannot find a solution to this heating situation, our Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050 (Adams, 2006). Moreover, the sea level is also responding the melting ice near the poles- it raises and submerges lands near coastlines. A group of scientists have proved that two India islands, Lohachara and Suparibhanga, have been swallowed up by the sea, making 10000 people homeless. (AFP, 2006) According to a documentary film called “The Inconvenient Truth,” the sea level would rise up to 6 meters as the ice keep melting; meanwhile, places near seacoast including Shanghai, Florida, Venice, Taiwan would soon be overwhelmed. A sequence of catastrophes could be predicted, and our terrain features will be totally different due to global warming.
  Last but not the least, as the climates and landforms changes, our ecosystems are experiencing a really harsh time. On one hand, to adapt to such climate changes, some weird behaviors have shown in our ecosystems. The TIME magazine mentioned in its special featured column that “Pacific salmon populations fell sharply in 1997 and 1998, when local ocean temperatures rose 6 degrees F” and “Polar bears in Hudson Bay are having fewer cubs, possibly as a result of earlier spring ice breakup.” (TIME, 2001) Furthermore, there are “at least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.” (Nature) On the other hand, species that have existed for thousands of years might fail to adapt such changes caused by global warming. Just last week, the polar bears have been listed as endangered in American, and they are the first species designated as potential victims of global warming. (LA Times, 2006)In addition, the white-fin dolphins, which have existed on earth for 20 million years, are now extinct due to human activities including the effect of global warming. (Teepen, 2006) Actually, these outcomes are not surprising because scientists have already predicted that “More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.” (Bjerklie, 2006)
  In conclusion, global warming is damaging our environments. Evidences have shown that it has brought us unexpected effects to our climates, dramatic changes to our terrain features, and unrecoverable damages to our ecosystems. Moreover, some scientists even predict an unappealing future if our globe keeps heating up so fast. Therefore, it is necessary for us to stop the situation from getting worse. To solve this problem, I think the very first step is to arouse the public’s attention on this issue, which is also my motivation to write this article. Although we constantly receive information and news related to the terrible effects caused by global warming, it seems most people do not consider it as an emergency. Only by realizing how global warming is damaging our environments could we face this problem more seriously. After all, there is only one earth, and we all have a responsibility to protect our only habitat.

Works Cited
AFP, CALCUTTA. “Indian islands disappear as sea levels rise.” Taipei Times, Dec 22, 2006. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/12/22/2003341475

Adams, Missy. “Vicious Cycles.” Time Magazine, March 26, 2006.

Bjerklie, David. “Feeling the Heat.” Time Magazine. March 26, 2006.

Emanuel, K. 2005. “Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years.” Nature 436: 686-688.

Jones, Jeffrey. “Huge ice shelf breaks free in Canada's far north.” Reuters. Dec 29, 2006.

LA Times(Editors of LA Times), “Global warming's poster cubs” LA Times. Dec. 29, 2006.

TIME (Editors of TIME Magazine) 2001. “The Effects of global warming.” TIME Magazine.


http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/061228/17/8jem.html

Teepen, Tom. “Another year, another species gone.” Cox News Service. Dec 30, 2006.

Nature,