10/15/02 
	By: Fiona Seckari
		Global Warming
	
	...Do you know the dangers?...

	Global warming is a large environmental problem, and is
the warming of the earth. Within the past century the earth
has been warmed one degree in the past century, although
this may not seem like much, but 18,000 years ago in the
last ice age the temperature was only seven degrees cooler.
Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect. The
green house affect occurs when greenhouse gases; water
vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, halagenated
fluorocarbons, ozone, perfluorinated carbons, and hydro
fluocarbons (Italicized are the major greenhouse gases). If
the current rate of global warming continues, it is estimated
that within the next century the Earth’s temperature will
rise another two to six degrees Fahrenheit.
	Humans are the main cause of global warming, our
power plants, automobiles, factories, and air planes all
contribute to the greenhouse gases.
	Global warming is harmful in many ways, it will hurt
human health by causing more hot days per year and
therefor higher the risk for heat stress, if left untreated heat
stress can become a serious health issue. Other dangers of
global warming are food and water shortages as well as
coastal flooding.
	Delicate ecosystems take thousands of years to evolve.
The animals and plants within the ecosystem have time to
either adapt to the changing climate or to vacate the
climate, but because the world is heating so fast and so
quickly, animals and plants do not have time to adapt.
	Along with upsetting ecosystems global warming
causes oceans to rise and expand. The warmer climate
causes glaciers to melt, adding more water to the ocean,
and heat makes water expand. This will upset natural
ecosystems, harm manmade structures with coastal
flooding, cause excess beach erosion, reduce availability of
drinking water in coastal areas, and allow salt to flow into
places where it is harmful. The rise of the ocean has
allowed harmful salt water into the fresh water Chesapeake
and Delaware Bays, lowering the resident oyster
population. 
		There are many small ways that global warming
can be stopped and slowed. By saving electricity, recycling,
carpooling, and buying energy conservative products, we
all can share in benefiting not only ourselves, but our
planet. 
	The inconveniences of helping to stop global warming
are quiet small. Saving energy merely means not letting
lights in the house on when we do not need them or getting
up to turn off the television. By pressing the remote control
button we are not turning off the television, we are merely
turning off the picture. Large amounts of energy are lost
every year by televisions that are not properly turned off.
The only way to truly turn off the television is to turn the it
off by using the button located on the television, and
although environmentally friendly products may be slightly
more expensive, our planet is definitely worth it.
	By being educated, educating others, and doing our
part, we can all help to save our planet. Hey, we messed it
up, we should be the one’s to fix it!