Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Global Warming - Essay Example One of the major factors that contribute significantly to global warming is the burning of fossil fuel, which has amplified the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to their highest for the last 20 million years. This paper, however, will focus more on another factor that also play a crucial role in global warming, which is deforestation (Maslin, 2007; Humphreys, 1996). Global warming can be hastened by a variety of factors, one of which is deforestation. Deforestation is the result of human activity such as illegal logging which is damaging to the ecosystem. The effects of deforestation as stressed by Humphreys (1996) range from the global to the local level. One of the most essential implications of deforestation is its impact on the dilapidation of the atmosphere (Humphreys, 1996). Deforestation plays a crucial role in global warming, which transpires from elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting to net escalations in the global mean temperature (Humphreys, 1996). Radiative forcing is the atmospheric process by which greenhouse gases amplifies temperature increases according to Humphreys (1996). To gain insight on how deforestation partake a role in global warming, it is beneficial to explore how this process really works. Greenhouse gases are composed mainly of four gases namely, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons (Humphreys, 1996). The effects of global warming are deemed to be hazardous to the planet Earth. It was predicted that intense global warming will cause alterations in global trends of agricultural productivity, augment melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps, thermal spreading out of the oceans and a net proliferation in sea levels which would endanger coastlines worldwide (Humphreys, 1996). Humphreys highlighted that not only does deforestation play a part in global warming but as a result, global warming would remarkably be perilous to nature, the warming of the oceans