Taking a Look at Global Warming

For many people, global warming just means that the Earth is getting warmer. What they don’t realize is that global warming is so much more than that. No matter how you call it, “global warming” or “climate disruption”, its effects are all the same. Rising sea levels, wildfires, droughts, and storms are all results of these rising temperatures. And if humans keep pumping large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, these natural disasters will be just the first of many.

To better understand global warming, it is essential to know its history. Global warming did not begin in the 1900’s. It was first theorized in the early 1820’s by a French physicist named Joseph Fourier, who discovered that the Earth was warmer than expected. He named several causes to this dilemma, one of which was human influence. In 1896, a Swedish scientist by the name of Svante Arrhenius became the first to propose that the rising amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was causing the Earth’s temperature to rise. Of course, at the time, these were just theories and hypotheses being presented. The technology of the time was not advanced enough for these men to be proven correct. It would not be until 1938 that a British engineer named Guy Callendar would have actual proof that CO2 emissions and rising global temperatures were linked. However, even with the evidence he had obtained from over 147 weather stations around the world, his “Callendar Effect” was dismissed by meteorologists and scientists alike. As the World Wars started, people forgot about global warming. It was not until the ‘50’s that global warming was brought up as a public concern again. By that time, many scientists agreed that humans had been emitting large amounts of carbon diox...

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...more time to control it. But it can be done. If people just continue to try and ignore the problem the world is facing, how can a solution be found? There are many that think that the true effects of global warming will not be felt for hundreds of years to come. But if the effects that are being felt today are causing so many problems, imagining what will happen when they worsen is unthinkable. During times of need is when people’s determination is seen, and this situation that the world finds itself in is no different. People will have to work together and countries will have to cooperate with one another for the sake of the world. It will be difficult at first, but in time people will be able to come up with solutions to the global threat that affects every country, rich or poor. People will have to find solutions because this planet is the only one humanity has.