Damaging+Effects

Melting Polar ice caps- due to global warming or the gradual warming of the earths surface, the ice caps which normally remain frozen start to melt. Due to the loss of ice and glaciers, less solar energy would be reflected away from the earth, thus the earth would absorb more and contribute more to global warming. Naturally if the ice caps melt bad things would happen, habitats would be destroyed and the whole earth would change, perhaps it could lead to another ice age. Rising sea level- As the ice caps melt, the volume of the ice must still be accounted for, and of course ice melts into water so it is distributed into the oceans, this increases the sea level and could put low lying coastal areas under water. if more land would be under water, then that water could freeze back and it would cause another ice age. Photo courtesy [|Earth Observatory], NOAA
 * Research predictions indicate a rising sea level. **

Hurricanes and natural disaster- With the rise in temperature the hurricanes ad tropical storms could become worse and more destructive, because they get their energy from the warm waters of the ocean. SO essentially it is like we are killing the earth, or at least making it less inhabitable for human life.

Action is being taken to make people aware of these problems. Al Gore tried to warn people of the damaging effects of this very real problem with the book An Inconvenient truth (shown below) There are things which can be done to slow the process of global warming and help preserve the planet. An obvious one would include don't use as much stuff that creates greenhouse gasses, such as drive a more efficent car, ride a bike or walk more. Also Plant tree which help take carbon dioxide out of the air and release oxygen. Recycle and don't burn garbage, burning garbage releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere Recycling helps reduce methane emission by reducing the amount of garbage in landfills, it also takes less energy to make products out of recycled materials. energy efficient light bulb.