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greenhouse effect on the environment
greenhouse effect on global warming
greenhouse effect on the environment
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The commonly debated “greenhouse effect” refers to “the global-average temperature increase that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more” (Spencer). President Barack Obama addressed the issue as an effort to highlight its severity, "We have to all shoulder the responsibility for keeping the planet habitable, or we’re going to suffer the consequences – together” (Leader). The earth’s increasing atmospheric and oceanic temperatures result in climate changes due to cumulative amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. As an outcome, researchers around the globe have established that the by-product of burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of the increasing temperatures. Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have Observable effects have taken place, such as shrinking glaciers, declining Arctic sea ice, and rising sea levels. The global sea level rose about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century (NASA). The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century. In addition to climate change on the rise, higher temperatures, more droughts, and wilder weather will prevail. These changes will affect animals, ecosystems, and people. Furthermore, in 2000, the Harvard School of Public Health looked at the human health effects from two fossil-fuel-fired power plants in Massachusetts. It estimates that the air pollution from the plants causes:159 premature deaths, 1,710 emergency room visits, 43,300 asthma attacks each year First and foremost, unlike power plants that rely on combustion of fossil fuels, wind turbines do not produce atmospheric emissions. Strangely enough, wind is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the irregular heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the variations of the earth 's surface, and rotation of the earth. This wind flow, or kinetic energy, when "harvested" by modern wind turbines, can be used to generate electricity. There is an abundance of wind to meet our needs, “the potential of [the total] wind power [in the world] is… 20 times more than what the entire human population needs” (Maehlum). Currently, wind power is one of the lowest-priced renewable energy technologies available, costing between four and six cents per kilowatt-hour, depending upon the wind
One of the main causes of the increase in Earth’s temperature is greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases that are trapped in the atmosphere. The gases consist of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. They trapped heat from the sun from returning back into the atmosphere. Over the last 100 hundred years we have increased the earth’s average temperature by 1.4 degree fahrenheit (Carey). This is mainly due to the fact we are producing ten times more greenhouse gas than before. It is exp...
“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.
The Greenhouse Effect occurs when all of the heat is being trapped which involves elements like CH4, N2O, O3. But , the one thing that causes global warming is CO2 ( Schlosser). The society has to remember that not only the elements cause this change , critics are causing the climate change also. For example , fire is natural and beneficial but it can also cause the weather to change because it releases carbon monoxide , and all of that goes up into the atmosphere which can cause global change. Not only does it cause warm temperatures but it also disrupts ecosystems pushing those to extinction for those who can’t adapt. There is also the Greenhouse effect temperatures. They have been rising to about 0.8 degrees celsius. According to Dr. Schlosser , in the atmosphere, it returns about 30% of the energy in approaching sunlight and takes in about 30% at the same time.
Think about a time when your car was parked on the side of the street all day long. Then you decide to run to the store and get some things for dinner. The minute you opened the car door, you feel the currents of hot air blowing past you, and when you sit down, you feel as if your car is radiating heat! This is a tiny, yet real example of the process called the greenhouse effect. This effect includes a form of matter, absorbing heat or radiation from the sun. What happened in the car was the glass assists the absorption of the heat and trapped the heat inside, containing it. Equally, the earth's atmosphere contains gases called greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and water vapor, which absorbs the rays we receive from the sun, and trap the heat inside. Our atmosphere, which contains the greenhouse gases acts like a blanket; absorbing the heat from the sun, and preventing it from going away from the earth's surface. The more the heat gets trapped because of the increase in greenhouse gases, the more the temperature rises, causing global warming. Global warming is “an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution,” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). The two main causes of global warming are the greenhouse effect and solar variations. The Greenhouse Effect “refers to the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation atmosphere gases (mainly Greenhouse gases such as CO, NO, and Carbon Monoxide) warms the Earth’s atmosphere and surface,” (Merriam Webster Dictionary).Solar Variations are “changes in the amount of radiant energy emitted by the Sun,” (Wikipedia).
The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect is a destructive phenomenon that is slowly heating the Earth. The release of excess greenhouse gases such as, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and methane, is contributing to the entrapment of heat in the atmosphere. One of the major gases contributing to this effect is carbon dioxide. There are various different sources that result in the release of this gas, one of them being deforestation. Deforestation is contributing greatly to the enhanced greenhouse effect, as the clearing of forests cause an increase in the concentration of carbon compounds in the atmosphere.
The “greenhouse effect” has been a concern for many years now. One of the major gases that contribute to this warming effect is carbon dioxide. There have been many studies on the effect carbon dioxide has on the earth’s atmosphere and weather patterns and how carbon dioxide production from burning fossil fuels, generating electricity, making concrete, cutting trees, and other processes effects the atmosphere we live in. The goal of this paper is to identify some possible contributors of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
In conclusion, it is critical to understand that current human activities are accelerating climate change and that the future human activities will affect their trajectories. Because fossil fuel based energy source produce a lot of heat trapping pollution, small changes to our daily activities will reduce human contribution and human behaviour. With these small changes children will be at risk to the exposure of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.
Mankind’s industrialization of the world has caused a drastic increase in temperature. This rise in temperature is caused by solar radiation remaining in our atmosphere because of gases produced by humans through the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities. These gases block the radiation from escaping into space therefore warming our planet. The result is raising of ocean levels, extinction of species and threatening of children’s health because of disease and less freshwater to drink. While many view climate change to be a more natural occurrence than others do, scientists have proven the average temperature rise of the Earth between 0.4 and 0.8 °C over the last 100 years.
Climate change, otherwise known as global warming, has grown more apparent in recent years, with increased natural disasters, significantly warmer temperatures and unreasonably long seasons. Global warming is one of the main concerns that scientists have been researching for the past century. Scientific evidence shows that global warming is caused by human behaviors. Due to the amount of human-induced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that have been released into the air, the earth is becoming a highly poisonous place to live on. Earth’s climate has been constantly changing ever since the Industrial Revolution, when innovations began and factories were built, which emitted mass air pollution. As more technological advances continued the years after, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air also increased. According to the UPI Space Daily News, “Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the main cause of global warming - increased by 45% between 1990 and 2010, and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tonnes in 2010” (Writers 1). The 1900s through the 2000s is the time period in which humans caused the most air pollution by creating vehicles and other industrial machinery. In the contemporary time period, human activities that contribute to climate change consist of hydraulic fracturing, rice cultivation, the increase of fossil fuel burning, and the rise of deforestation.
Earth’s carbon levels have followed a natural cycle throughout the past 800,000 years where the carbon dioxide concentration varied from 180 ppm (parts per million) and 280 ppm which resulted in several changes in the environment.. In the grand scheme of Earth, these changes are miniscule and have stayed within the natural cycle. But when looking through the eyes of humans, these changes are drastic causing ice ages, draughts, and rain for years (Goldstein 6). During the last century carbon dioxides levels in the atmosphere have become significantly larger than they ever have in the past 800,000 years. Today these levels are at 390 ppm and show no signs of stopping which will cause temperatures to rise because carbon is a greenhouse gas. When a greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide or water vapor are present in the atmosphere, they absorb the heat that the Earth is giving off, creating a thermal blanket over Earth trapping in heat (Houghton 20).
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,
In talking about global warming, we need to learn what causes the greenhouse effect. Rays from the sun are taken up and absorbed by water vapor that is natural in the atmosphere. The United States emits the largest man made greenhouse gases in the world. As Americans we must realize the responsibility to reduce the emissions. (Gore, Albert) Water Vapor is eighty percent of greenhouse warming. The last twenty percent results from other gases that are in very little amounts. A huge absorber of the sun’s heat rays is carbon dioxide. Us as humans release a lot of carbon dioxide. When fossil fuels are burned, they release big amounts of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is on the increase in our atmosphere due to car emissions. Approximately eighty percent of CO2 increases because of man’s use of fossil fuels. When there is more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere the more sun rays are absorbed. In result to this happening this will cause the earth and the earths atmosphere to warm. When the earth is warming, water temperatures will start to get warmer. Oceans and lakes will get warmer in result f...
The burning of fossil fuels has greatly harmed our environment and is a leading cause as to why climate change has become such a threat to our way of living. In May of 2013, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million, an increase of more than 40 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This could cause the Arctic Ocean to be nearly ice-free during the summer by 2020(Overland and Wang, 2013).
The earth is a complex system, which continues to evolve and change. Climate change and global warming are currently popular in the political agenda. But what does “climate” really mean? The difference between weather and climate can be conveyed in a single sentence: “Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.” Based on research of the geologic record, we know that climate change has happened throughout Earth's history and at present, ever-increasing evidence points to the roles that humans play in altering Earth systems. The Earth and its atmosphere receive heat energy from the sun; the atmospheric heat budget of the Earth depends on the balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation from the planet; which has been constant over the last few thousand years. However present evidence seems to suggest that the recent increase in temperature has been brought about by pollution of the atmosphere, in particular the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide, mostly through Anthropogenic Forcing (human activity) and other various internal and external factors. I...
The common definition of global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants (Global warming, Wikipedia). Moreover, the effects of global warming will bring ecological and social changes. Because there is no exact way to predict the effects of global warming, it is almost impossible to say how strong global warming will affect life in the future. Scientists blame the greenhouse gas effect in combination with societies greenhouse gas emissions for the rising temperature. The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is emitted back towards the earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Simply, global...