March 11, 2025

Snika Gupta

11th Grade

Brooklyn Technical High School

Some people think a 1-degree increase in average temperature will just make each day a degree warmer. But the effects of this change are massive and have significantly changed the earth in our lifetime.

Global warming refers to the rise of the global average temperature. We can measure the change in this using the global temperature anomaly. A misconception people have is that this rise means this rise happens equally across the planet but it happens differently. Parts of the earth are more affected and have larger increases than others. Another misconception people have is seeing the 1-degree increase and thinking in Fahrenheit but most global measurements occur in Celsius. One degree Celsius increase is 1.8 Fahrenheit.

You may still think that it’s a negligible difference but a 1-2 degree drop had put the world into the Little Ice Age. A five-degree drop had made North America in a block of ice. This change is significant as it takes so much energy and heat to cause this change across all the oceans and land. Its effects are even more devastating. This increase in temperature causes us to lose glaciers and sea levels to rise. This poses a threat to small islands and coastal regions as well as trade harbors and canals. Corals have also been affected, with many dying off and the animals they support dying off with them. 

Does global warming just make it hotter? 

Global warming is the average measurement being it measures the average between all weather in each area. The globe may be getting warmer but we also have more variable weather meaning we will also have extreme colds where they usually do not occur or exacerbate the effects where they do. One cause of this could be arctic warming. Studies have found that while the article temperature increases the surrounding area seems to get colder as well. They theorize that the Arctic arming is pushing out cold air spreading to places where it usually did not reach. The air being colder than ever brings extreme temperatures with it and also extreme storms. 

We have been hearing of more and more extreme disasters happening across the world. From wildfires to devastating hurricanes to heatwaves to flooding to snow storms in the hottest states of the U.S. Each of these can be explained by the effect of global warming. Wildfires are becoming more intense due to drier land and hot seasonal winds coming in. Hurricanes gather their energy from warm ocean water, global warming of course heats the oceans’ water and provides it with more fuel. Heat waves are of course caused by the excess heat trapped in the earth's atmosphere and are unlikely to stop as 2024 just marked the hottest year in history. Droughts and floods though opposite are still caused by the warming. As temperatures increase evaporation occurs more often creating more vapor which is turned into precipitation meaning more rain. This also causes snow storms, when temperatures are low the massive precipitation that is collected means even harsher storms. 

Though global warming may seem like a simple concept with one effect: warming; it is much more than that. This however doesn’t mean there is no hope. While we will need extreme changes in policy to counteract the earth's extreme changes we must still try. We can reduce the use of fossil fuels by installing solar panels or other renewable energy sources. We should protect forest land and wildlife as they are the filters that convert carbon dioxide heating the heart in oxygen. Supporting nature in your community can support these goals as well.