warming trend. Indeed, over the past two decades, when CO2 levels have been at their highest, global average temperatures have actually cooled slightly. To be sure, CO2 levels have increased substantially since the Industrial Revolution, and are expected to continue doing so. It is reasonable to believe that humans have been responsible for much of this increase. But the effect on the environment is likely to be benign. Greenhouse gases cause plant life, and the animal life that depends upon it, to thrive. What mankind is doing is liberating carbon from beneath the Earth's surface and putting it into the atmosphere, where it is available for conversion into living organisms. On the surface, global warming might look like it is actually going to benefit the earths atmosphere. The increases rise in rainfall will promote growth and will cause arid areas to be able to grow plant life, which is ever so important in this constantly growing world of ours. These all point to global warming as a good thing. It is not. Scientists have calculated that evaporation will increase as the climate warms, which will increase average global precipitation. But, the moisture is likely to decline in many regions, and intense rainstorms are likely to become more frequent. Sea level is likely to rise two feet along most of the U.S. coast. Also, the polar ice caps will melt, contributing to the rise of sea levels and flooding low-lying coastal areas of the world, completely covering cities such as New Orleans.In the United States, approximately 6.6 tons of greenhouse gases are emitted per person every year. Emissions per person have increased about 3.4% between 1990 and 1997 (Elliot 26). Most of these emissions, about 82%, are from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and power our cars. The remaining emissions are fro...
