Global Warming in the United States
Global Warming in the United States
Abigail Cruz
University of Phoenix
10/18/11
Global Warming in the United States
There are various environmental issues that have for a long time affected most countries. These issues range from nuclear power accidents to global warming and oil spills among others. The focus of this paper will be on a very critical issue that has in recent years been at the centre of debates all over the world that is, global warming. Of basic focus in this paper will be the effects of global warming, the ways of curbing global warming, and the drawbacks that face the various methods of curbing global warming. The country of focus in discussing this topic, which provides good examples of global warming effects and the benefits of curbing it, will be the United States.
Before the discussion of the issue of global warming and how effectively it can be curbed in the US, it would be imperative to understand it. First, global warming is the result of the greenhouse effect that has caused the earth to experience warming. Second, the processes involved in the warming that the world experiences today has taken many millennia to take place. Finally, the effects of global warming are hardly felt by human beings, yet, they pose as the major cause of global warming.
Global warming is caused by the collection in the atmosphere of gases majorly carbon dioxide and general air polluting substances that form a layer, which continuously thickens, therefore, trapping the heat from the sun thus causing planet Earth to warm up. The carbon dioxide that forms the major component of the blanket in the atmosphere is emitted from human activities. For instance, the coal-burning power plants in the US form the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution producing almost 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually. The other source of this deadly gas is vehicles. Vehicles only produce almost 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The effects of global warming directly affect human beings in various ways. For instance, in the U.S., wild fires, deemed the worst effects, greatly affected the States of Colorado, Arizona, and Oregon in 2002. Within the same year, there were drastic experiences of dust storms in Colorado, Kansas and Montana as well as floods that caused damages worth millions of dollars, in Texas, North Dakota, and Montana. When effects of global warming over the years are evaluated, then the above effects are just a tip of the iceberg. Global warming continues to be a threat; therefore, it should be toned down through the development of strategies that will surely work against this issue that can harshly eliminate humanity.
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