Effects Global warming

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Effects of Global Warming
Global warming refers to the situation where the general temperatures of the earth rise steadily. Though debates have always come up with an attempt of finding out the causes of global warming, I am convinced far and away that the acts of the human kind play a role in global warming. The effects of global warming refer to the happenings that come about due to global warming. Scientists have always held the opinion that the effects of global warming will come into existence in the years to come. Nevertheless, our planet earth seems to have got it wrong this time round, because the effects of global warming are already visible. To make matters worse, they are worse than was expected. This research paper seeks to shed more light on some of the effects of global warming.
The first effect of global warming is the rise in water levels. It has been observed that the water levels in the seas have risen by an average of 13 feet. This is majorly due to the high temperatures that melt the snow at the poles (Tjoelker 740). An example is the state of events at the Antarctic and Green land. In both situations, the presence of snow has massively reduced due to the high temperatures. Once snow melts, it turns into water and flows directly into the seas thereby increasing the water level in the seas, lakes and oceans (Revkin 19). The reduction in snow can even be witnessed at the Alps ranges in Europe as well as the rise in water levels of the nearby lakes.
In addition to the rise in water levels, global warming has resulted into the occurrence of adverse weather conditions. An example is the most recent Hurricane Sandy, which was unexpected and resulted into loss of both lives and property. Though it has not been proven, it is believed that the recent Haiyan Typhoon, which affected close to five million people in the Philippines, happened because of global warming (Washington Post). Due to global warming the United States National Academy of Science is predicting that deadly climatic conditions like droughts and freezing are expected to be a common occurrence.
Global warming is slowly resulting into the disappearance of natural resources. It has been observed that the great barrier reef in Australia has been rising in temperature by an average temperature of 0.36 Fahrenheit or 0.2 degrees Celsius over the last twenty-five years. The overall effect of this is that the coral reefs will be slowly disappearing (Davis 613-619). Overtime, it has been noted that several species of both plants and animals have been becoming extinct at a high rate. The plants have become extinct majorly because the prevailing climatic conditions have not been favoring their growth and development (Harte et.al 871). In addition, several animal species have become extinct due to the highly unfavorable climatic conditions as well as the fact that their ecosystem has been destroyed by the climatic conditions. Some of the species that have fell victim include the penguins, arctic fox, walrus as well as the bears.
In the past, the pattern of atmospheric flow of winds has always been from South Pole, through the western regions to the north. The wind that used to flow at the North Pole was cold, however, the recent trend where the winds that form the east lies and then reach the north pole has been warm is majorly because of global warming (Revkin 17). The recent high temperatures that the United States experienced in the summer of 2012 also came about due to the effect of global warming.
Apart from the fact that global warming results into the increase in water levels, it also results into the acidification of the water bodies. This is due to the presence of a large amount of acidic gases like carbon dioxide and sulp...