History Essay October 12th, 2011 Every so often, human civilization has been faced with great challenges.

May it be a world war, an economic downfall, or an epidemic, each time we have managed to work with each other in order to solve the toughest dilemmas. Today, we are faced with the most difficult problem ever encountered in history: global warming. The difference between tackling this problem and the ones we have previously faced is the level of complexity. The environment is interrelated to numerous other aspects of the world such as economy, industry, and politics; therefore, various factors, which leads to endless possibilities where the wrong decisions will be made and further deteriorate the state of the environment, are needed to be taken into account. We have already destroyed the earth to such a severe extent that a possibility of finding a solution and successfully working together is slim to none. Before we talk about anything else, the root of the problem must be exposed and the causes of global warming determined. The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon where certain gases collect heat from the suns infrared rays after it has reflects off of earths surface. These gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), are being produced more than ever as a result of overpopulation and consumption of the resources that we use to power the modern world. The more people there are, the more provisions will be needed to be produced in order to fulfill the populations needs. A rise in population creates a demand for more basic belongings such as food, clothes, and energy, but all of which will produce greenhouse gasses. For example, food needs land to grow their crops, and in order to obtain the land required, forests need to be cut down. In the year 2000, the World Resources Institute estimated that 18.3% of the worlds greenhouse gasses are produced by deforestation. Other basic needs for a normal life such as producing electricity and heat accounts for 24.6% of greenhouse emissions, and transportation and agriculture account for 13.5 % each. At the current rate of population growth, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be well over nine billion people walking the earth because the worlds mortality rate and life expectancy are improving. The products that we use on a daily basis are not only made from non-renewable resources, but also resources that contribute to the emissions of greenhouse gasses. We use wood to build many things: from houses to furniture to art canvases. And that leads to deforestation, which is a

huge problem because the trees are replacing CO2 with fresh air. Energy is essential to power the modern world, and most of our energy comes from burning coal, nuclear plants, or natural gas, all of which produce bountiful amounts of greenhouse gasses. This reality is almost unavoidable because burning coal, gas, and using nuclear energy is the cheapest option in compared to using renewable resources such as wind, solar, or water power. Therefore, we can conclude that global warming is the price we pay for a normal modern day lifestyle and cheap, fast alternatives. Often times, people think that the effects of global warming will not reach them and is something that belongs to television broadcasts, or on newspaper headlines, but the reality is much closer to their home than they might think. Also, global warming will create a domino effect of one problem after another after another, so that the world will not have time to keep up with the changes. The places that are hardest hit by global warming are the north and south poles. The northern hemisphere has a lot of permafrost and tundra which hold many natural gasses. If the CO2 emissions are on the rise, then the permafrost will melt and when it does, it releases more greenhouse gasses which in turn heats up the earth even more. This process of positive feedback is one of the scariest effects that global warming causes because of its ability to function on its own, even if we stop emitting so much CO2. Also, the ice caps of the world will melt, the water level will rise, and the ice and snow that acts as a natural mirror against the sun will become smaller and smaller and letting in more and more light which heats up the earth. With rising temperatures, there will also be incredible weather changes such as droughts that happen more often in places already experiencing them Moreover, stronger, fiercer hurricanes as a result of warmer waters, and organisms that depend upon each other for survival will go out of sync. Another problem will be the availability of fresh water which many countries get from melting glaciers or natural rivers and streams. Once the glaciers will completely melt, causing a flood and then a drought, the streams and rivers will dry up as a result of that. Diseases such as malaria that are carried by mosquitoes will spread rapidly because the climate is warmer for the insects, bacteria, or viruses to live in. The most terrifying aspect of this is that it only takes a mere couple degrees for the chain reaction of unfortunate events to start, but once it has, fewer and fewer opportunities of fixing the situation will present themselves.

We have only covered the environmental effects of global warming, and there are many social and political changes that will occur as a result. If there is a drought, it will lead to food shortages; the government will devise any possible resolution within their power and use any means in order to obtain food for their people because if they are unable to do so, there will be protests and riots owing to the disappointment of the citizens. Places such as Africa, China, India, Mexico, the Mediterranean coast, and the Middle East will all have such short supply of the basic necessities such as food and water that they will flood towards the poles. This possibility has already caused concerns among national governments and many have taken action to prevent this from happening. For example, European countries are considering the possibility of annulling the Schengen Agreement which enables people who live within the European Union to travel freely across borders which will prevent people from Italy, Greece, and Croatia to flood into the northern nations. The USA has enforced their border with Mexico, and the UK has considered isolating themselves from foreigners so to preserve their relatively small population and maintain their food supplies. Already, there have been disputes over rivers between India and Pakistan and the possibilities of all these conflicts transforming into full out wars is extremely high. Despite all the indications that disaster is inevitable, many scientists and people with political power are thinking of ways to revert the calamity before it has gained too much momentum. Scientists have thought of geo-engineering which will use technology to act as nature and fix global warming with such solutions as releasing various sulfide gasses higher into the earths atmosphere in order to act as a mirror against the sun; however, the release of the gasses must be very specific, there will be an uneven distribution around the world, there will be chances of ozone depletion, damaging plant growth, and raising the oceans acidity. Another idea is iron fertilization of the ocean which will create more phytoplankton which in turn will increase the oceans productivity. This plan would not work because such a large, sudden change in the amount of plankton in the ocean has never happened before and what happens can only be wildly guessed at, but also because it could be fertilizing harmful algae which will upset the ecosystem. These ideas that are advertised to be quick and easy ways out of climate change are simply not possible because of cost related issues, side effects, or lack of cooperation from powerful organizations. Scientists are even desperate enough to suggest absurd ideas of making an artificial mirror that orbits in space which is simply slipping into the realm of science fiction.

Other more reasonable ideas that focus more on directly lowering amount of greenhouse gas emissions will work better, but simply arent feasible because we as humans simply wont do it. It is in human nature to be greedy and so, there will not be enough people changing light bulbs, switching to hybrid cars, or recycling to make a difference in the carbon levels. Many people wont even be alive to see the results of the changes that they make, so they wont bother and they assume that the next generation will solve the problem like every other time that a global crisis has occurred, and this arrogance will give them an excuse not to do their small part in protecting the planet. Neither geo-engineering nor the cooperation of the people will prove the be the solution to global warming because geo-engineering has efficiency issues, incomplete solutions, and unprecedented side effects and the people simply dont have the motivation to work together. Once again, the world will be thrown into the lions cage, but global warming suggests more of a challenge than any that the human race has faced before. Their demise is ultimately created by their own doing, polluting the earth, using up its resources at an alarming rate, and simply taken for granted the gifts of nature that has been given to us. Global warming has so many elements that it proves to be a formidable opponent with complexity that runs so deep into our society that it is unlikely we will be able to overcome this trial despite what dreamers that call themselves idealists might say. The moment the industrial age initiated, we have merely been fighting with a double edged sword and now its choosing to bite back.