Global warming is the increase in the Earth’s average surface temperature over the past centuries primarily due to the release of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs as well as emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. Greenhouse gases are primarily the CFC (chlorofluorocarbon), methane, nitrous oxide, O3 or ozone, water vapor and the carbon dioxide discharged after fossil fuel is burned.
The foreseeable calamities are being discussed in this article and the most obvious once are mentioned below:
The increase in temperature affecting the health of the people: The increase in temperature is caused due to an increase in the number of holes in the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The ozone layer resists the harmful ultraviolet rays from entering the surface of the Earth which is, firstly, very harmful to our eyes and secondly, can cause skin cancer if one is exposed to it for prolonged periods. The increased temperature could also increase the cases of heat strokes as it would then vaporise more amount of water at a faster rate and keeping one hydrated would become more of a task.
It can lead to different kinds of complexities and can have detrimental effects on human health. A big hole in the ozone layer has already been detected over Australia and it is of huge concern to the environmentalists to repair it so that people of Australia do not get affected and don’t have to bear the burden of what the whole world is responsible for.
The increase in temperature leading to floods across the globe: The increase in temperature could as well be responsible for melting down the ice caps in the poles, therefore, creating havoc across the globes. The Pacific Ocean will submerge almost all the islands which are situated in it and might also engulf parts of countries like India and Sri Lanka which are close enough to get devastated and get heavily affected if something of that sort was going to happen. The ice caps have already started to melt and have increased the level of water. We lose Arctic ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade and over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest iceberg in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95%. If all of them were to melt then the global sea level would rise approximately 70 meters (approximately 230 feet), flooding every coastal city on the planet.
Therefore, what we can conclude from these statistics the situation is not going to favor us and a lot of destruction is to take place if a flood were to happen across the globe containing sick people affected by the harmful ultraviolet rays, repeated heat strokes, and blindness. To prevent everyone from moving towards that doomsday we need to start taking precautions and start reducing the burning of fossil fuels and knowingly increasing the percentile of carbon dioxide and methane in the air. We need to become more aware of the situations around us and should become more sympathetic towards the health and well-being of the environment with which we are direct and indirectly related through our daily lives.
About the Author: Soumi Lahiri is a law student who strives to make this world a better place not only for humans, but also for all the coexisting organisms on Earth.