Microwaving the World

...

reflect less of the sun’s radiation away from the Earth, increasing the temperature, melting more ice caps, glaciers, and polar ice sheets. This creates an unending cycle. The melting of the ice caps also has resulted in an 8-inch rise in ocean levels from 1961 to 2003, which accounts for an increase of 139 million square miles of ocean and threatens the existence of numerous islands (ProCon.org).

As the human population grows, there will also be more air pollution. For example, China is using almost all of its resources to maintain its large population and burns nearly half of all of the coal that is burned in the world. It has gotten to the point where its residents wear masks to protect themselves from the pollution, and the life expectancy has decreased. China and other countries such as the U.S are major contributors to the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, as they have greater populations as well as use a greater percentage of the world’s resources.

A solution is to use renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal sources. Because of our current technology these can provide 96% of our electricity, and 98% of our total heating demand in the US (national Wildlife Federation). Some might say that this solution will be too expensive and the renewable energy sources could not support the world’s energy needs. This, however, is not true. Recent research says, “it can be done with today’s technology at costs roughly comparable to conventional energy” (Bergeron 1). Therefore, it can only benefit the planet to start to implement these energy saving methods.

Global warming is human caused, and there needs to be a way to control humans’ influence. With the advances in renewable energy technology, scientists are making it easier and cheaper to replace the nonrenewable energy sources with more sustainable ones in order to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint. It is society’s duty to help in this transition to use renewable energy and take care of this planet, for themselves and generations to come.

#1 ProCon.org “Climate Change ProCon.org.” 20 Mar. 2014

#2 David Pomerantz and Joe Smyth “Stopping Global Warming” Greenpeace

#3 “Global Warming is Human Caused” National Wildlife Federation

#4 Louis Bergeron “The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today’s technology, in 20-40 years, says Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson” Stanford News Service. January 26, 2011