Natural greenhouse effect supports life on Earth as greenhouse gases trap sunrays and reradiate them back to provide the planet warmth. Nonetheless, human activities have increased their concentration drastically, trapping more heat from sunrays and global warming ensued. Since Ice Age, global temperature has risen by 5°C whereby around 84% is contributed by recent decades. Scientists claim that higher temperature will alter world climate. Food for thought, traditional climate change warms up or cools down the whole planet while the modern one has similar but irregular effects. This makes the living on Earth struggled. Thus, the potential complications of global warming should be clarified and arrested immediately.
The potential effects of global warming in terms of climate change include the extinction of flora and fauna. It happens as climate change is capable of triggering glacial accumulation in some areas while reduction in elsewhere. It warms the Polar Regions faster too. According to Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), Arctic has lost approximately eight percent of its sea ice over the last three decades and will become denuded in summer by 2100. Its disappearance can jeopardize the polar creatures and migratory birds flying there for reproduction purpose. Coral reefs which serve as the base of ecosystems will be destroyed by increasing temperature of the oceans. The extinction of 30-40% of global species due to climate change has been foreshadowed.
More unprecedented and severe disasters can also be resulted from global warming. Climate change alters the rainfall of a region (Woodford 2006). More rainfall can be observed in the areas having wet weather and located high above the sea level. However, it is not the frequency that increases but the magnitude (Riebeek 2007). Furthermore, the frequency and severity of disasters such as El-Niño, storms and heat waves have also increased (Woodford 2006). This is evidenced by the reports conducted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over half of the past century whereby there were more frequent heat waves and intense rain. The reports also revealed that there were more cyclone and drought-stricken places since 1970s (Riebeek 2007).
Moreover, global warming can also affect the peoples’ welfares. Climate change induces erratic weather. When there is more rainfall in some places, there are longer-lasting droughts (Woodford 2006) assaulting other places. This scenario will further limit the source of nutrients. Global warming shifts the growing season too. Earlier spring forces migratory species to prey their food earlier. Meanwhile, shorter-lasting winter is unable to eradicate bugs from overrunning an ecosystem. Besides that, vectors can reach greater range of places due to climate change (Riebeek 2007) as more places become warmer. It is estimated that two third of the world population have the risk of being infected by malaria by next century.
To tackle the impacts of climate change, emissions of greenhouse gases should be reduced. Consumers should purchase energy-efficient appliances and request for more proportion of household electricity to be generated from renewable energy. Usage of self-transport should be reduced. While driving own vehicles, ‘drive with better fuel economy in mind’ (Woodford 2006). On the other hand, Nzone Tonight’s Climate Change – has it been cancelled? U-Tube video suggests the world to compromise with climate change and accept it like any other natural disasters as the former is also part of the nature. According to the video, the needy should be given assistance at the same time.
In conclusion, each individual has the obligation in arresting climate change caused by global warming as it is human contributing to the problem as stated in the film An Inconvenient Truth – a global warning (2007) directed by Davis Guggenheim. Based on the film, the warnings of the disaster must be acknowledged and given appropriate reactions. When the controversy regarding the seriousness of global warming is ongoing, the problem is worsening too. The Stern Report urges for instant investment in overcoming climate change as the longer it takes to defeat the problem, the higher the cost will be (Woodford 2006).
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