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Photo by Tim Carr
Photo by Tim Carr
Photo by Tim Carr
Photo by Tim Carr
Photo by Tim Carr
Global warming is caused when greenhouse gasses accumulate in the atmosphere and force the earth to trap excessive amounts of the sun’s heat, causing the earth to warm. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is one of the main greenhouse gasses, but others exist such as methane produced from landfills, and nitrous oxide. C02 is released as a result of the burning of forests and fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas in order to create power for transportation, industry, and electricity generation.
The heating of the globe will have catastrophic consequences for humans and the other species that inhabit this earth if nothing is done to change our fossil fuel consumption patterns. Some effects already seen today include, more intense storms (link to “hurricanes and GW PDF fact sheet”) because of warmer ocean waters, loss of substantial amounts of glacier and snow cover at the Polar Regions resulting in sea level rise, ecosystem change as a result of drought and climate changes, and alterations of life history events in organisms. To read more about current impacts go to the EPA impact site.
Arkansas Impacts
The National Wildlife Federation has created an Arkansas Specific fact sheet that talks about many of the specific consequences wildlife and humans face, as a result of global warming. Solutions for Arkansans are addressed as well.
