Global warming is taking place at such a rapid rate that scientists and researchers fear the very worst in the years to come. This phenomenon is being caused by Greenhouse gases (GHG), which are being released into the Earth’s atmosphere faster than it has been prior to the industrial revolution.

The Causes

Greenhouse gases majorly consist of water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, and methane. Water vapor is the primary contributor towards the greenhouse effect measuring 36-70% followed by carbon dioxide contributing 9-26%; methane at 4-9% and finally ozone at 3-7%. The secondary greenhouse gases include sulfur hexafluoride, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and chlorofluorocarbons.

A Study: Impact of humans on Environment

Another important factor based on a study conducted by researchers, states that to an extent global warming is caused by an intrinsic relationship between certain demographic factors like the composition & size of population with respect to environmental changes over a long period of time.

A recent United Nations report estimates that the global population is rapidly increasing with around 80 million children being born every year. This creates a complicated relationship between humans and the environment because as the global population grows, it leads to the decline in resources like potable water, fisheries, agricultural land, forests etc. In fact the water consumption grew six fold, globally, between 1900 and 1995.

One of the most astounding devastation has been the one caused to the forests. One of the glaring examples is the constant destruction of the Amazon rainforest, which has led to the extinction of certain special and even micro-habitats. A study shows that in a span of 5 years between May 2000 and August 2005 - 132,000sqkm of rainforest was cleared in Brazil and since 1970 more than 232,000sqmiles of rainforest has been destroyed. This is one of the major causes of climatic changes, erratic weather patterns and on the whole: global warming.

Worst Affect

One of the worst affected areas is the Antarctic where polar ice is melting at an unusually rapid rate. This is a worse-case scenario of global warming. The result is that some of the big ice shelves have disintegrated like Larsen A, which was a 770 square mile ice shelf that disintegrated completely in 1995 causing a rise in the water level. This was caused by the 4.50F temperature increase since 1945.

In the years to come, the prediction is that polar ice and glacial ice will melt completely and this process will cause an irreversible damage to all living organisms and habitats on the planet.