Shifting gears to a modern-day topic, issues like climate change and overall global warming have been observed to increase even more rapidly in recent years with increased human activity and innovation. We may not have had to monitor this issue as heavily in the past, however, with the increasing population and industry, we could be living through its effects more frequently in our lives, making it an important topic to be knowledgeable about.

Global warming describes the increase in global temperature and encompasses the effects of climate change. It’s important in your life because the use of fossil fuels contributes to the increased abundance of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that cause a temperature rise, affecting weather patterns, flooding, ecosystems, and human health. 

When the sun radiates light onto the Earth, some of the light is absorbed and some is sent back into space. Instead of simply transmitting back into space, however, greenhouse gasses will trap some of the light under a “blanket” in the atmosphere to heat the earth in what is called the greenhouse effect. This is a natural effect and is generally seen as beneficial since it keeps the planet warm, increasing the annual temperature to a stable amount each year. The increased concentration of these greenhouse gasses, however, traps excess heat from the sun and warms the earth even further, increasing the annual temperature by speeding up the process of warming. 

The main causes of the rise in global annual temperature can be attributed to natural influences, human activity, and industry evolution in the past two hundred years. Naturally occurring processes like volcanic eruptions can affect global warming, however, it is not as comparable to the role that humans play. The burning of fossil fuels as energy: coal, oil, and gas, revolutionized technology in the early Industrial Revolution by creating new and more efficient means for energy production. Factories were built, capitalizing on these new forms of energy to maximize company output performance. Modern industry continues to use fossil fuels in the creation of their products and has given the power to individuals with the sale of gas cars.   

This information is important to know because the majority of people own cars and are contributing to the growing amount of fossil fuels in the atmosphere simply by owning a gas car. That isn’t to say that there aren’t other methods that produce more emissions, but it is important to understand our role in the climate crisis and how we can as individuals help lower those levels. As is being seen now, the rise in global temperature levels from human activity in the past two hundred years is causing oceans to become more warm and acidic, killing the ecosystems that live there, causing more floods with rising sea levels, fluctuating climate, and increasing the likelihood and danger of infectious diseases from air pollution. Climate change and global warming are only growing out of demand for these fossil fuels, which unfortunately means that the effects we are seeing now will only become more common and begin to grow more irreversible as time progresses. 

Overall, it is important to be knowledgeable about climate change because it is an issue that has become more relevant as of the modern day with the rapid increase in annual temperature and will continue to have an effect on our lives in the future if work is not done to combat it.