Climate Change

“The first decade of the 21st century saw 3,496 natural disasters from floods, storms, droughts and heat waves. That was nearly five times as many disasters as the 743 catastrophes reported during the 1970s – and all of those weather events are influenced by climate change” (Goldenberg). With every passing day, the Earth’s climate is changing and having an adverse effect on life on this planet. The major reasons why the climate on Earth is changing is, global warming and the emission of harmful gases. Global warming is the overall increase in Earth’s average temperature due to Greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect is when the Sun radiates heat and most of those radiations are absorbed by the ocean and land on the Earth, while some are absorbed by the gases. These greenhouse gases trap the heat and then later radiate it to the Earth, increasing the temperature to the Earth’s atmosphere. Although the world is facing many problems, however climatic change must be addressed on a priority, because climatic change can lead to disastrous results like melting of ice glaciers worldwide due to rise in temperature, depletion of ozone layer due to harmful gases which include CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) and economic downfall on large scale.

Global warming is causing a gradual increase in the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere, which can cause the huge ice glaciers in seas and oceans to melt, resulting in significant rising of the sea level. The main cause of global warming is the large amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which include, but are not limited to carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The main source of production of these gases are human activities like burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes. According to a study by NASA, Earth’s 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since1880. (NASA…2015). This shows how the temperature of our planet is constantly increasing. The increase in temperature has melted tons of ice and have brought up the global sea level. Research by NASA revealed that in the last century the global sea level rose by 17cm and the rate of last decade is almost double the last century (SEA LEVEL). Exceeding level of water in oceans and seas is a threat of flooding on large scale. Coastal areas and low-lying areas, like Bangladesh, are more vulnerable to this threat. Effects of glaciers melting are not only limited to floods and tsunamis. Ice weighs about one ton per cubic meter, and glaciers are huge bulks of ice. This enormous weight puts a lot of pressure on Earth. According to NASA, when this pressure reduces as a result of glaciers melting, many geologic disaster like earthquake, tsunami and volcanic eruption can occur. This is because, decrease in pressure makes the movement of tectonic plates easier under the Earth’s surface. (Church and White.)

Due to emission of harmful gases like CFCs and halocarbons, the ozone layer in the stratosphere—an upper layer of atmosphere—in