Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Solve the problem of deforestation
Solve the problem of deforestation
Impact of global warming on arctic region
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Since the industrial revolution, scientists have documented a trend of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas. This observation has been an issue of major environmental concern in the view of the potentially devastating effects of climate change on ecosystems and human survival. Recent studies by scientists led by Wei-Jun Cai have served to underscore this fact by showing that the Arctic region and the globe are faced with a major climate challenge due to the continued melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. This research has indicated that the major concern is the increasing heat absorption as deeper ocean water layers get exposed to sunlight as well as the possible loss of white ice reflectivity or the albedo (An Ice-Free Arctic Ocean Will Not Absorb More CO2, n.d).This paper discusses the recent observations that Arctic Ocean basin do not have an indefinite ability to continue acting as a CO2 sink when conditions are ice-free caused by the escalating warmer temperatures.
It is worth noting that sensitivity to climate changes in the Arctic is considered the highest on the Earth’s surface. In addition, the region experiences more pronounced acidification than any other ocean. Recent decades have seen the Arctic Ocean experience a steady increase in the rate of sea ice melt. According to Cai, et al. (2010), this has been especially so in the light of the indications of the three summers from 2007 to 2009. The recent research by Cai et al. has been built on the postulation that more and more CO2 would be absorbed from the atmosphere under ice-free conditions in the Arctic Ocean. Therefore, the research investigates the impact of sea ice melt on the concentration of CO2 on the surface water of the Ar...
... middle of paper ...
...temperatures will continue causing ice melt in summer. Consequently, the surface water carbon dioxide partial pressure will continue to increase, further reducing the ability of the CO2 sink to take up more CO2. The high-resolution survey further points to the fact that the future will see an increased air-sea CO2 flux. This is due to the exposure of more area of sea water as well as long periods when the Arctic Ocean surface will be subjected to ice-free conditions. Though this is expected, the capacity of the CO2 sink in the Arctic Ocean to continue taking up CO2 is predicted to weaken due to equilibration of pCO2 of surface water with the atmosphere. The survey highlights four major factors which facilitate this equilibrium. These include low CO2 fixation, surface warming, shallow mixed-layer depth, and strong stratification of surface water (Cai, et al., 2010).
Global Warming, much of what does or does not happen forty years from now rests on our actions or inactions taken between now and then. The crucial question is whether we should pour all our resources into mitigation – reducing our carbon emissions. According to scientists who study the climate there are other environmental problems; “we now face a global crises in land use and agriculture that could undermine the health, security, and sustainability of our civilization”.
It is an unquestioned fact that the climate is changing. There is abundant evidence that the world is becoming warmer and warmer. The temperature of the global land average temperature has increased by about 8.5 degrees centigrade from 1880 to 2012 (Karr, et al 406). The one or two degrees increase in temperature can cause dramatic and serious consequences to the earth as well as humans. More extreme weather occurs, such as heat waves and droughts. The Arctic Region is especially sensitive to global climate change. According to the data in recent decades, the temperature in the Arctic has increased by more than 2 degrees centigrade in the recent half century (Przybylak 316). Climate change has led to a series of environmental and ecological negative
It is predicted that the effect of permafrost melting will be that the ocean levels will rise and will significantly increase the temperature and accelerate the rate at which global warming occurs. Permafrost covers 24% of the land in the Northern Hemisphere (Insert Citation), if this was to melt 1700 gigatonnes of methane and carbon dioxide (Insert Citation), powerful heat trapping gases, would be released into the atmosphere increasing the amount of greenhouse gases by 200%.
The reduction in photosynthesising biomass led to an increased reliance on the Worlds other carbon sink, Oceans. Between 26-44% of CO2 in the atmosphere is absorbed by oceans by photosynthesising organisms, mainly phytoplankton (Archer, D. and Pierrehumbert, R., 2011), seawater chemically reacts with aqueous Carbon Dioxide, one of the end products is Hydrogen ions (H+) (NOAA, 2013). The increased concentration of H+ results in the ocean becoming more acidic, since pH is determined by concentration of Hydrogen ions.
First, global warming has an immense impact on Arctic Sovereignty as the rise of greenhouse gases thrive in Canada along with other countries. Within 20 years, the polar ice caps of the Arctic have melted twice as fast compared to before. The loss of Arctic ice can furthermore pose a threat to shipping, as navigating the Arctic becomes increasingly challenging. Finally, climate change threatens the extinction of numerous animal species, namely the polar bear. Hence, global warming poses a major challenge to Arctic Sovereignty and Canada along with other members in the Arctic Council must prevent it.
People are responsible for higher carbon dioxide atmosphere emissions, while the Earth is now into the Little Ice Age, or just behind it. These factors together cause many years discussions of the main sources of climate changes and the temperature increasing as a result of human been or natural changes and its consequences; even if its lead to the global warming, or to the Earth’s cooling. In their articles, “Global Warming Is Eroding Glacial Ice” by Andrew C. Revkin and “Global Warming Is Not a Threat to Polar Ice” by Philip Stott, both authors discuss these two theories (Revkin 340; Stott 344). Revkin is right that global warming is taking place. Significant increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is due to human activities combined with natural factors such as volcanic emissions and solar radiation – all together they lead to climate changes and temperatures rising. At the same time, other factors such as deforestation contribute to environmental changes for some glaciers not less than air pollution. However, during global warming not all regions of the planet are affected in the same way, local warming and cooling are both possible during these changes.
is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere
Some studies have found “that atmospheric CO2 concentration is approximately 383 parts per million by volume (ppmv), a level not seen in at least 650,000 years, and it is projected to increase by 0.5% per year throughout the 21st century.” (Guinotte) “This is because…the ocean absorbs about a third of fossil fuel emissions, but this amount is likely to increase to 90% in the future.” (Bralower) As a result, “the chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years, with far-reaching implications for marine biodiversity and food security, according to a new United Nations study...” (Knight) “…This change is cause for serious concern [for] many marine organisms…, [because they] may not be able to adapt quickly enough to survive these changes.” (Guinotte)
90 percent of the effects of global warming are attributed to rising temperatures and heat. This heat tends to affect our oceans due to the ...
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is known to be one of a number of gases that are astonishingly transparent to the visible light that falls on the Earth from the Sun, but it absorb the infra-red radiation that emitted by the warm surface of our Earth, to prevents its loss into space. Moreover, CO2 has varied considerably and this affected the Earth’s temperature. Most common source of this CO2 is known as the fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are primarily coal, hydrocarbons, natural gas, or fuel oil that formed from the remains of the dead plants and also animals. The burning fossil fuel that has been created by humans is the largest source of emissions of the carbon dioxide.
Oceans cover around seventy percent of the Earth’s surface. The oceans of the world have a direct relationship with weather and climate – they influence the weather both locally and globally and the changes in climate in exchange have an affect on properties of the oceans. Changes that occur to the ocean for the most part occur over a much longer period than in the atmosphere. Even if carbon dioxide emissions were to be stabilized today, it would centuries for oceans to adjust to the changes in the atmosphere. When greenhouse gases trap more energy for the sun, oceans then absorb more heat; and in turn there is a rise in sea surface temperatures as well rising sea levels. Oceans do help to reduce climate change due to the fact that they
Jacob, T., Wahr, J., Pfeffer, T. W., & Swenson, S. (2012). Recent contributions of glaciers and ice caps to sea level rise. Nature, 514-518. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature10847
...he oceans. The impact of climate change on CO2 directly and simply depends on its concentration in the atmosphere. CO2 molecules absorb infrared outgoing emitted from the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere. This has caused an increase of 25-30 %, it was observed in the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere over the past 200 years of the high temperature. There was a lot of discussion about how it can be achieved and stabilize the concentrations of CO2 in the future.
According to Tutulmaz, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before the industrial revolution it was at 278 particles per million (786). The last measurement of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in December 2015 is at 402.56 ppm (“Global Climate Change”). The ocean plays a main part in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but at a consequence to the ocean and its organisms. An estimated 30% of the carbon dioxide released from human activity has been absorbed into the ocean (Tutulmaz 786). Too much carbon dioxide in the ocean cause acidification which alters the pH of the water making the environment harsh for marine
Global warming and the greenhouse effect are issues discussed by scientists all the time. A natural process that keeps earths temperature at a livable rate is called the greenhouse effect. The energy from the sun warms up the earth when the rays from the sun are absorbed by greenhouse gasses. The gasses then become trapped in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide are the most common greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gases cause the radiant heat of the sun to be trapped in the Earths lower atmosphere which causes global warming. If there weren’t any greenhouse gasses, the earth would be really cold due to very little sun rays being absorbed on the earth. Global warming can and will lead to several problems that affect the environment in which we humans live in. These problems can lead to warmer temperatures all around the world, it can endanger animals and the wildlife, and it can lead to widespread flooding from the glaciers melting. Here are a few more future effects that I will discuss in more detail about. Damage to human health, Severe stress on forests, wetlands, and other natural habitats, how fish will be affected. Global warming is a serious problem that will affect our generation when we are older.