- Banned
- #726
As a brief summary for the layman:
1. It has been known for a long time that having increased carbon gasses in the atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect and traps more heat.
2. Carbon gasses enter and leave the atmosphere as part of a natural cycle (one main cycle is extraction of carbon by plants that then returns to the atmosphere when plants rot, animals digest, animals die, etc).
3. Fossil fuels are not part of this cycle because the carbon was trapped millions of years ago. Therefore, burning fossil fuels like coil, oil, gas, etc. adds new excess carbon gasses to the atmosphere. Deforestation also increases carbons gasses in the atmosphere because less is taken out by trees.
4. The result of having this increase in carbon gases is global warming which is caused by the greenhouse effect. This is a small increase in average air and ocean temperatures, and is unlikely to be noticed in daily life.
5. The increase in average air and ocean temperatures changes and shifts wind patterns and ocean currents. These changes are further exacerbated by other factors like melting of polar ice.
6. The result of these changes is changing and shifting of climates, i.e. climate change. Climates also become less stable, as they have settled into steady patterns over thousands of years and now those patterns have been altered.
7. Most plants and animals on Earth are evolved to exist in the specific climates they inhabit. Therefore, shifting and changing of climates can lead to the dying of forests and animal extinctions. Similar effects can occur in the ocean as previously cold water areas become warmer or vice versa, or areas with specific properties change and shift. Put simply changing of habitats can make them no longer suitable for the things that inhabit them and those things die. This reduces resources that we rely on to live and also adds even more carbon gasses to the atmosphere that wouldn't have been there in the normal cycle. So the problem worsens and more extreme effects occur.
The eventual result can be extreme weather events and limited remaining resources making the planet far less inhabitable than it is now.
Point 7 relies on your Point 1 being correct. However the fourth word 'known' should be 'speculated' or 'theorised'.