Global warming and Nanook....For my Favorite Crusader and Her Loyal Knights

What is global warming

Global warming is the rise in temperature of the earth's atmosphere.
It's said that by the time a baby born today is 80 years old, the world will be 6 and a half degrees warmer than it is now.


Earth's atmosphere does the same thing as a greenhouse. Gases in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide and other polluting gases people have put up there do what the roof of a greenhouse does. During the day, the Sun shines through the atmosphere. Earth's surface warms up in the sunlight. At night, Earth's surface cools, releasing the heat back into the air. But some of the heat is trapped by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That heat stays close to the earth and warms it. It's like heat trapped in a car on a very hot day.

If the greenhouse effect is too strong, Earth gets warmer and warmer. This is what is happening now. Too much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the air are making the greenhouse effect stronger.

You might wonder, why don't we just plant more trees? After all, plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

Well, that might help a little. But, instead of planting more forests,  people are cutting them down and burning them to make more farm land to feed the growing human population.

What will happen if global warming continues?

There are already some changes happening because of global warming. Glaciers are melting and the polar ice caps are melting. This makes the sea level rise and some animals are already moving to new homes. It’s already too late to stop global warming completely.

If the warming gets worse, as scientists expect, there may be some kinds of plants and animals that become extinct (disappear completely) because they can’t move to new homes. There may be more storms and floods. Sea level may rise so much that people have to move away from the coasts. Some areas may become too dry for farming.

Why is Nanook our symbol?

Because as the polar ice caps melt , Nanook and all his species are losing their habitat. It is melting from under their feet and they will become extinct. They are in the most danger right now because the ice caps are melting very fast, at twice the rate scientists expected. They can not go any farther north because they are already at the top of the world.  The ice floes they need to hunt from and to rest on when they swim many miles are forming later and later in the season and melting earlier and earlier.The  bears are going hungry. They are producing weaker cubs and have been observed eating each other. Nanook stands for what we have done to our planet.

What is being done about global warming?

Global warming is a very difficult problem to fix. People are having a hard time agreeing on what to do about it. For example, everyone agrees that wasting energy is a bad thing to do. But some people think that the government should make laws about it, while other people think it should be up to each person to decide what to do.

Many states and businesses in the United States are not waiting until the federal government decides what to do. They have already started working on the problem.

What can I do about global warming?

You don’t have to wait until you are grown to do something about global warming. Scientists agree that the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming. Since these fuels are burned for energy, and everyone uses energy, everyone can help stop global warming just by using less energy.

Think about the things you do each day that use energy. The lights in your house use electricity. The TV and computer use electricity. The washing machine, dishwasher and dryer all use gas or electricity. Every time you ride in your car, it uses gasoline.

There are some simple things that you can do to help stop global warming:

Wait until you have a lot of clothes to wash before using the washing machine. Don’t use the machine for one item just because it’s your favorite shirt.




Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Use fluorescent bulbs in your room.






Turn off your computer or the TV when you’re not using it. Unplug chargers when not in use.




Close the blinds on a hot day if the sun is shining in. Dress lightly instead of turning up the air conditioning. Or use a fan.




Dress warmly inside your house when it’s cold, instead of turning up the heat.



Bike or walk short distances instead of asking for a ride in a car.



Plant a tree.



Take shorter showers. Heating water uses energy.



When we are grown up, global warming will be our problem. It would help us if we learned a little about it now.