Global warming refers to the gradual increase of Earth’s temperature, which in layman’s terms, means that the world is heating up. It is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These gases trap in heat causing a natural heating up of the Earth's atmosphere - called the greenhouse effect. It is known that the surface temperature on Earth has risen by about half a degree Celsius in the last 100 years and scientists predict that the Earth will be warmer in the future.

Effects of Global Warming

A minute rise in temperature will cause the ice caps in the North and South poles to melt causing a rise in sea level. Due to this, the coastlines of low-lying countries like Singapore and Maldives will recede and can cause a lot of destruction and suffering. One of the animals that are affected is the Emperor Penguin, as the melting of the ice caps will affect their natural habitat. The ice caps may also have pre-historic viruses trapped in them. The melting of these ice caps may release such viruses creating a more havoc on Earth with the re-emergence of pre-historic illnesses.

Besides the rise in sea level, occurrences of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes will increase. This will in turn, cause mass destruction, depending on their scale, to human and other species alike. As a result of such natural disasters, there will be increasing incidences of diseases.

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Coral reefs in the ocean will die as a result of the increase in the temperature of the ocean. This will cause a ripple effect up the food chain as fishes that depend on the coral reefs for food and shelter will also die. An example is the clown fish. Ultimately, humans will also be affected as fish and other marine food sources will be affected.

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