Monday, November 1, 2010

5 THINGS THAT I'M SURE YOU DIDNT KNOW, WILL BE AFFECTED BY GLOBAL WARMING!

Many people think they know all about global warming and the straight forward affects it will have on the environment.. Well here are 5 things that I bet NOONE knew would be affected by global warming. HERE WE GO.....


 Wine
With an increase in temperatures, grapes in California and France are going to produce their sugars too quickly. What does this mean? Well this means that growers are going to have to either leave the grapes on the vines longer which increases alcohol content, OR, they will have to pick them sooner, leaving the grape too sweet! What to do?


Baseball
Lumber mill in Pennsylvania where the ash tree
is shaped into baseball bats
Can a sport that has been in America for hundreds of years really be affected by a problem that has only become known of in the last couple of years? Yes! The ash tree- a tree of which almost all baseball bats are made out of, is in danger thanks to global warming.  The Ash Borer Beetle, an insect that is known for recently killing over 25 million trees throughout the U.S., is expected to completely wipe out the ash tree population. Why now? Thanks to the increase in temperature, this particular type of beetle has developed a faster reproduction cycle, which is aiding to the demise of the Ash tree.  This problem has many baseball pro's worried, and has experts trying to come up with a new resource that we can use to produce the everyday baseball bat!


                                            Christmas Trees
Pine bark beetle
There is no way that we are going to let Global Warming effect our holidays too!   Again, these nasty little beetles, known as the pine bark beetles, are killing acres of forests, and not just any forests.  These forests are filled with thousands of trees that you and I know as Christmas trees.  This specific type of beetle, which used to only come out during warm seasons, is now able to roam freely throughout the whole year due to the warm seasons!  Where will Santa put our presents?


 French Fries
Imagine going to Mcdonalds and not being able to order those delicious fries that seem to compliment every meal?  Well according to a scientists who focused on International Agricultural Research, warmer temperatures might just get ride of
fries for good!  The increase in temperatures are killing off many different "relatives" of potato and peanut plants.  According to scientists, this is threatening a valuable source of genes that are essential to help these food crops fight pests and drought!


Poison-ivy rash
                                                        Poison-Ivy
Gross! With an increase of C02 in the atmosphere, researchers have found that poison ivy has been growing taller, more lush, and more resilient.  This means that it is going to be harder then ever to get rid of poison ivy.  Guess this means we should start stocking up on calamine lotion!












References: 


1. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-sci-warming25feb25,0,568205.story
2.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/us/11ashbat.htmlex=1341806400&en=0625ab6644795b6e&ei=5088&pa
3.http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0905France-Wine0905.html
4.http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/climate_100.html
5.http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/323181_joel11.html





EFFECTS ON HUMANS!!

With basically every aspect of the world being affected by global warming, humans are no different... If anything, we are going to be affected by global warming the most out of anything! WHY?! Simply because we are directly or indirectly linked to EVERYTHING mentioned in my earlier articles... So if they're affected, so are we!  


Some Examples:


1. Plants and Animals: With the extinction of even SOME plants and animals, the other will be affected. For example, if some plants become extinct, this will affect the animal population in one way or another, and vise versa.  These populations are linked so when one if affected so is the other.  As a result, this will affect humans as well, because we are ALSO dependent on plants and animals for a number of thing. So this is the first thing that will affect us.


2. Weather: With irregular weather patterns the main result will longer, and WARMER seasons.. but WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Well, it just means that people who have really bad allergies, LOOK OUT! With longer and warmer seasons, allergies will be at an all time high, even worse than they are now.


3. Ocean: With the destruction of coral reefs will result in the eventual loss of marine life, including many types of fish which are very important to the human diet.  Not only that, but with the rise of sea levels, people residing in coastal areas may even lose there homes!  Additionally, with the rise of sea water, there is a great chance that the water will overflow into river banks, making the water unusable and reducing the water supply for MILLIONS!!




So you see... YES, global warming will affect all aspects of our environment. But because the environment satisfies so many of our human needs, it seems we will be hurt the worst after all!








References: buzzle.com ( Global Warming Effects on Earth)