In the article Does Air Pollution Help Reduce Global Warming by Evan Galloway, the author starts off with naming some of the many contributors to global warming. One example he uses is a fossil fuel that we know as coal. Galloway goes on to describe what is released from the coal when it is burned (which is carbon dioxide and sulfate) and the affect it has on our atmosphere. When sulfate is released into the air it forms aerosols, which contribute to our pollution and acid rain. (Galloway, 2009)
Lina M. Mercado of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in the United Kingdom and other colleagues, discovered new evidence that suggest aerosols might actually help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. The new research presented by Mercado shows that aerosol scatters light across the forests, exposing more plants to the light and increasing photosynthesis during the process. This new research sheds a little light on the policies the government already has set in place to reduce pollution and might be at odds. (Galloway, 2009)
It was predicted by researchers that the effects of aerosols in the environment would cause global dimming, (a decrease in the amount of sun reaching the earth). These predictions of this effect turned out to be correct and were long taken into account. But people started noticing that global dimming may also have a second effect. Less light meant less photosynthesis, which reduced the amount of carbon dioxide took in by plants. Assuming that this second effect was true, in addition to decreasing acid rain and air pollution, aerosol reduction would help better global warming. The overall effect of atmospheric aerosols was to produce more carbon intake; the reason is more complicated that global dimmin...
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...e need to take into consideration about how we use these products, and think about how it affects life around us. The question that I have is that, if Aerosols are such a huge contributor to acid rain and air pollution, why aren’t the people more informed? This is my first time hearing ever that aerosols were such a problem, or should I say too much aerosols. I also wonder because this article is 5 years old, is this even still a huge issue or not. I see people in stores buying more and more products with aerosol in them more than ever. And if this is still a huge problem, I hope that we could someday hit that point where global dimming begins and the large amounts carbon dioxide used decreases for good.
References
Galloway, E. (2009, May). Does air pollution help reduce global warming?
Today's Science. Retrieved from Today's Science database.
“All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster.” BARACK OBAMA, speech, Apr. 3, 2006. Climate change is not a theory contrary to what many individuals believe and is in fact confirmed by major scientific agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. Global Warming causes are mainly due to greenhouse gases that are trapped in the atmosphere and cause depletion of the earth’s ozone layer. Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and although it is a necessary component in our atmosphere as it helps plants perform photosynthesis, too much of it causes ozone depletion and therefore climate change. Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased tremendously after the industrial revolution, which indicates that the major cause of this issue is due to anthropogenic activities.
Burning fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel and coal releases carbon into the atmosphere. Every time you drive your gas...
Thesis: As the environment encounters damage from increasing levels of carbon dioxide, actions on both governmental and individual levels need to be implemented in order to protect the welfare of future life.
Have you ever pondered the idea of why every year the temperature of our atmosphere rises? I have done tons of research and I am pleased to say I will be sharing my findings with you! Humans are the leading cause of global climate changes but little do they know everyday activities they participate in are the main offenders. From cutting down trees to driving gasoline powered cars, these activities can cause major changes in our global climates! As the very intelligent Bill Gates states “Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority.” Three major problems that lead to climate changes are deforestation, the burning of fossil fuels, and the use of hydro-carbons in aerosol cans.
When people burn fossil fuels to accumulate and produce energy a substance called carbon is produced. Carbon is released into the air in a form known as carbon dioxide. Carbon moves throughout the biosphere on the planet as it is recycled and reused. Carbon exists in the earth’s atmosphere in two common forms which are methane and carbon monoxide. These gases absorb and retain heat in a process known as the greenhouse effect. The Planets natural greenhouse effect makes life possible by regulating our temperature. It turns out that adding too much to the greenhouse effect can have horrible consequences on the environment. Each year, five and a half billion tons of carbon is released by burning fossil fuels and of that three billion tons enters the atmosphere. The remaining carbon usually gets absorbed by the oceans.
When this coal is burned it releases sulfur and other toxic air pollutants. While mining for coal is also incredibly dangerous, as is oil drilling offshore. Between the two since the year 2000, there have been over 522 deaths of oil drilling and transport, as well as miners and the office workers of those mines. As these numbers continue to climb with the years the families of these men and women who have lost their lives to these occupations will never be able to see their wives, husbands, sons, and daughters again, as the bodies of these accidents are almost never found. There are further reasons that global climate change has become a problem, including the release of greenhouse gases. A greenhouse gas is classified as “any of various gaseous compounds (such as carbon dioxide or methane) that absorb infrared radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere, and contribute to the greenhouse effect.” (Merriam Webster). Methane is a large contributor to the rise in greenhouse gases on earth with 14.4 percent of it coming from livestock, most of that livestock being cows and other bovine animals, such as the buffalo, and the
Secondly the amount of co2 we have relased into the air has caused global warming. Acording to ¨ Nobel Spaech by Al Gore, 70 million poultion that has caused global warming was released on the day of his speach. Futhermore ,Gore claims
After nearly a century of use, CFC’s have finally been almost totally eliminated from production on the face of the planet. It seems as though we have finally taken a step in the right direction as far as preserving our ozone and our climate. Unfortunately, the repercussions of CFC’s will not go away anytime in the near future. Their effects will be felt well into the next century, as they continue to eat up what remains of our ozone and heat up our planet. Even after all of the CFC’s have decomposed, it will take generations before the ozone can begin to regenerate. That is one positive aspect of all this, and our future depends on it -- the damage done today is not irreversible -- but without immediate and drastic action, it will be.
The emission of carbon dioxide has contributed to 80% to the heating of the earth atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced due the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal and oil. The burning of fossil fuel is very important in our society today, because it is used for cooking, used to produce electricity, for heating, for cooling and also for transportation. The industrialization has led to the use of fossil fuel for running machines and driving cars. The building of fossil fuel contributes towards 80-90% of the carbon dioxide we find in our atmosphere today. When the ecosystems are altered and vegetation is either burned or took out, the carbon stored in them is relinquished to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (What causes global climate change, 2005). Methane is another gas being produced in the process which all have served to increase the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere. Methane is produced from the cultivation of rice, from the burning of coal and from cattle, it has increased by 145% due to human
The most destructive human contribution to climate change is fossil fuels combustion, which results in the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Increased carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and halocarbons levels in the atmosphere cause an imbalance in the earth’s energy. This is because the gases alter solar radiation and thermal radiation which regulate the earth’s energy. Research indicates that anthropogenic climate change is the cause of the increased global warming over the last fifty years. 57 % of the carbon dioxide emitted is absorbed into the atmosphere while the rest is absorbed into the oceans. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the most central greenhouse gas that is associated with global warming (Eby, Zickfield, Montenegro, Archer, Meissner, & Weaver,
Since the beginning of the existence of planet Earth, different eras have shaped the atmosphere of our planet. But recently, the inhabitation of mankind has changed the levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere, on a rather unhealthy scale. Because of our emissions, we have given global warming no other path then to rise. The increased amounts of Carbon Dioxide and other gases put into the air are enhancing the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect, the trapping of the sun's warmth in the planet’s atmosphere, is causing global warming. In the greenhouse effect, shorter-wavelengths with higher energy are able to transmit through, but not out the atmosphere. On the other hand, long-wavelengths with low energy are able to be transmitted through the atmosphere and out freely. In our case, infrared radiation, which we feel as heat, becomes trapped inside the atmosphere. Our atmosphere heats up when it is exposed to the sun's heat, but eventually levels off at a certain equilibrium temperature, which is the average surface temperature. The equilibrium temperature is the point at which temperatures level out. Earth’s present day atmosphere includes Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), Argon (0.0093%), Carbon Dioxide (0.00035%), and Water (0.01%). In order to test out this concept of the greenhouse effect, we did an experiment in which we took two bottles, each filled up with dirt. The top parts of each bottle were cut off and we put a thermometer inside each bottle facing outwards. For the experimental bottle, we covered the top of it with plastic wrap and for the control, we left it alone. In the middle of the two bottles, we put a light bulb and at every five minutes, we checked the temperature of each bottle and record...
Humans and animals breathe out Carbon Dioxide, often referred to as the greenhouse gas, as a waste product. Plants take in this CO2 and use it to make food. This is called photosynthesis. During this process oxygen is released which is then breathed in by humans and animals. This procedure is repeated over and over and a natural balance is obtained. However this natural balance is disrupted by human activity. People of the world are putting more than 5.5 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. 75% of this is caused from the burning of fossil fuels. These fuels are burnt all the time to run factories, power plants and vehicles. The main sources of CO2 emissions are electric utilities, residential buildings, industry and transportation. The other 25% is induced by the destruction of the world's forests. The reason for this is that there are less trees and plants to take in the CO2 but there is just as many, if not more, humans and animals to breathe it out.
The evidence clearly provided in this essay strongly supports the argument that greenhouse gases caused by air pollution are the main cause of anthropogenic climate change. The tables and graphs demonstrate just how greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. As is evident, climate change is an ever growing problem globally. Due to the increase in anthropogenic air pollution, greenhouse gases have amplified also, as shown by table 2. Figure one shows how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased exponentially, mirrored by anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. The various examples described clearly support the argument that greenhouse gases caused by air pollution are the major anthropogenic causes of climate change.
When coal gets burned they start to release harmful dangerous toxins such as mercury, lead and arsenic that will then escape into the air. It also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. These emissions increase the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and lead to global warming.
A main cause in the recent studies of global warming is the usage or aerosols. Aerosols are a substance enclosed under pressure and able to be released as a fine spray, typically by means of propellant gas. An aerosol can range from hairspray all the way to dust particles in the air. The new worries that are starting to show prominence in society today are the increase in carbon dioxide from t...