As you may have already known, one of the biggest environmental issues that we are facing is global warming. When an individual hears the words global warming, a few things might come to mind. Naturally we think of seas, forests and natural life that inhabits the wilderness. Have you ever asked yourself the question of what is Global Warming? How does Global Warming affect us and almost every living thing on our planet earth? What are some of the causes of Global Warming?
To answer some of the questions we must first understand how does the earth sustains life through energy. Life on earth depends on energy coming from the sun (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2017). Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of gases and other pollutants. To further understand the cause(s) of global warming one must understand the science behind it. Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the greenhouse effect — warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space (Nasa, 2017). How does heat gets trapped in the atmosphere? Certain gases such as water vapor (H2O), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Methane (CH4) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are responsible for blocking heat from escaping.
Now that we know a bit about Global Warming and the causes behind it, we must understand how global warming affects us and our environment. The environment is one of three major influences on humans at large. Bandura (1986) devised a theory called Triadic Reciprocal Determinism (or Causation) that states that the environment that people live in both influences human behavior and personal factors. People are both influenced by the environment but also have a certain level of control over the environment so that both can affect each other (Nelson, A. 2017).
We must take responsibility for our actions, and as we mature and become adults most of us do just that. As the population grows so does our need for more resources. You might ask, how does population and resources play a role in global warming. For example, let’s look at one of the factors behind global warming; CO2. As the population grows in any town U.S.A, so does the need for jobs, housing and transportation. Building housing and operating factories requires fuel. Using personal or public transportation to get to work and back, running your day to day errands, all requires fuel. Burning fuel, creates CO2. One of the causes of global warming per NASA is CO2.
Some of the things that we’ve seen because of global warming are; longer and hotter summer season, earth quicks, tsunamis, melting glaciers which has drastic effects on our planet earth and negative effect on the creatures that inhabit our forests, seas and most importantly, us, humans. Per the Guardian the death toll in India’s heatwave has climbed towards 1,500 as the country sweltered in one of the worst bouts of hot weather for several years (The Guardian, 2015).
In conclusion, we, humans are the superior species that have control over all other living things on our green planet earth. It is up to us to educate ourselves on the environment that we live in and understand how does our needs, habits, actions and will to live and to survive is affecting our environments. We are on the right track towards fighting global warming by creating hybrid cars for example, or using solar panels and or windmills to create energy. However, we still have a long road ahead of us to completely and successfully eliminate global warming. We can only try by educating masses and creating more green technology, all to sustain precious lives on our home, the planet earth.
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundation of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Nelson, A. (2017). Lesson 4. Applied social psychology: The Environment. Presented on the PSYCH 424 course content site lecture at the Pennsylvania State University.
Shaftel H., Jackson R., Tenenbaum L., National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)., (2017, January 31). A Blanket Around the Earth. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from www.nasa.gov
The Guardian.,(2015, May 28). India heatwave death toll rises as awareness campaigns launch. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from www.theguardian.com
Tags: Applied social psychology, armin vossooghi, cause and effect, environment, environment blog, global warming, Penn State University, Psychology 424
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your blog! I think this was a very informational and interesting blog. Our environment is so crucial to our very own existence, yet we conduct a number of “behaviors” that can ultimately lead to its destruction. I completely agree with you on educating the masses on the dilemma. I believe a great part of the issue is that people are really unaware of their small actions on the environment. Consistently educating people on behaviors that improve the environment is what bridges psychology and environment. I think if people are well informed on what actions they should or should not take, it will make improvement on the environment’s condition. I believe this because, making a conscious decision to commit an act that can poorly effect the environment and ultimately society may create some cognitive dissonance which will encourage individuals to consider what’s at stake.
V/R,
Leana Mason