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Effect of a tsunami
Climate change effects from greenhouse gas emissions
Impact of the greenhouse impact in the environment
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¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬The Earth is a large and mysterious planet that we are just beginning to understand. There are many cycles and forces that go hand in hand in creating different environments on Earth. In this essay we will go over the five major cycles, the Atmosphere, Sun, Water/Ocean, Wind, and Earth cycles. We will also go over how the cycles interact and work together to form one of the most bio diverse planets in our galaxy. The Atmospheric Cycle is focused mainly on the atmosphere, the chemicals in it, and how it affects the climate/weather. The atmosphere itself contains many gases that are important to living being on Earth. Some of them are gases that help the environment and humans, while other gases damage our environment and do not benefit humans. Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Chlorofluorocarbon are gases that are harmful to the environment. These gases are also known as greenhouse gases because they trap the heat inside the Earth and speed up global warming. Methane and Chlorofluorocarbon are the most harmful to Earth as they damage the ozone layer and speed up global warming very efficiently. Carbon Dioxide is not that harmful as plants have the ability to get rid of it and is necessary to life on Earth. But, excess amounts of it can engage the greenhouse effect and speed up global warming. To this date there are 720 gigatons of carbon in the atmosphere. This is a lot more than the normal amount of carbon dioxide on Earth and this is speeding up global warming. Carbon Dioxide is also involved in the carbon cycle, which is responsible for moving carbon through the environment and through the atmosphere. The first step of the carbon cycle is when carbon is recycled into the environments through photosynthesis and plants. ... ... middle of paper ... ...with warm currents or have a general amount of warm water, are more likely to be struck by tropical storms. There is another way that the ocean can change the environment is when tsunamis occur. These large waves move through the ocean and strike the land, but unlike normal waves that recede when they strike land, tsunamis continue miles inland. The ocean cycle is also responsible for the movement of nutrients through the environment. When tides move through the ocean they pull up nutrients that are located at the seafloor. Those nutrients then are moved with currents throughout the world. This is how the Ocean Cycle plays a role in the environment and Earth. The Earth Cycle also plays an important role in Earth and our environment. The Earth Cycle plays an important role in natural disasters, geological processes, and the transfer of nutrients. The transfer of
Ever wonder what the atmosphere consists of? What's it made out of, what type of weather patterns are there, what does a hurricane look like, or other natural phenomenon's of today's weather ? Well America, hopefully now we can! Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and the effects it has on our weather. Climatology focuses on how atmospheric changes alter the world’s climates, aeronomy is the study of the upper parts of the atmosphere. Meteorology focuses on the lower parts of the atmosphere, primarily the troposphere, where most weather takes place. It has been released that under the supervision of NASA, President Dwight D Eisenhower and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) that they have launched a satellite called TIROS 1 out of Cape Canaveral, Florida that will observe, record, and transmit data back to headquarters. The first ever weather satellite has arrived and with much hope will change weather prediction for the future.
Climate, weather, and meteorology are 3 words that seem to be the same but in reality differ significantly. Two of these concepts pertain to the atmosphere but differ in what time and place they are studied in, and the last one is studying these concepts.
Climate change is a long term change in the earth’s climate. Climate change is attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. There are 328,000,000 cubic miles of seawater on the planet, covering approximately 71 percent of the earth's surface. Ninety-seven percent of all water is in the oceans. The other three percent is divided amongst the two percent ice and one percent fresh water. Making earth’s waters composed mostly of salt water. Salt water covers most of our planet indicating climate change to have a giant impact on our oceans. Taking a closer look at the ocean and our water in general can reveal several clues to the greater effects of climate change and what other ways climate change can affect our planet. (2)
There are lots of natural processes constantly happening all around us, these processes are often linked by passing one type of atom to the next process which passes the same atom to the next one and so on. This ‘passing of the atom’ along a chain of processes is called a cycle, the series of processes in which the carbon atom goes through is called the carbon cycle. Each Carbon is the fourth most affluent element in the universe and is an important part of most molecules that make up most of the world’s natural resources and organic matter, which is why the carbon cycle is one of the most important cycles on earth. Through-out the cycle, carbon can become several different forms such as sugar, oil, diamond and marble. Processes such as photosynthesis, combustion and the compression of the earth play key roles in changing, containing and releasing carbon. All the chemical reactions and processes and forms carbon creates are part of the carbon cycle, which is one of the most important cycle on earth. The majority of carbon on earth is in the atmosphere the rest is stored in rocks, fossil fuels, oceans, plants and soil. Carbon is constantly being added to the atmosphere, the most common forms being carbon dioxide and methane gas. At the same time it’s being removed by plants on land and in the oceans. Carbon can be stored for hundreds of years in sediment, fossil fuels, rocks and the ocean. The carbon in the atmosphere is almost always a compound called carbon dioxide.
Most climate scientists agree that the main cause of global climate change is the human expansion of the greenhouse effect. This is the global warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space (climate.nasa.gov). The main gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (climate.nasa.gov). Human activities are changing the natural greenhouse effect. The burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (climate.nasa.gov). Carbon dioxide levels have increased from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years due to human act...
Carbon dioxide is a gas which is part of the carbon cycle. The combustion of fossil fuels...
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).
Climate change occurs when there is a significant variance in the climate which last for several decades or longer and not for a short period of time. Climate change includes changes in elements such as temperature, precipitation and wind patterns.
Earth’s climate is determined by the physics and chemistry of its atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere consists of four layers; troposphere which is closest to earth, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. Hardy says, “During the past 100 years we humans, as a result of burning coal, oil, and gas and clearing forests, have greatly changed the chemical composition of the thin atmospheric layer.” There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels. The atmosphere is made up of many gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. It also consists of trace gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons and, ozone. The trace gases have the greatest effect on our climate (Hardy 5). Up to a certain level, these gases help to keep the planet warm by absorbing certain infrared wavelengths, so that there can be life on the planet. Thus, they trap heat in the troposphere and stop it from escaping to space (Hardy 7). Therefore, the greater amount of greenhouse gases, the more heat trapped in the atmosphere. Earth’s temperature is increasing due to increased levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide released into the air from burning fossil fuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001 report projects “global average surface temperature increases ranging from 1.4 to 5.8 degrees
CO2 is naturally present in the atmosphere, known as the carbon cycle. Natural occurring CO2 comes from volcanoes and decaying plants and animals (Where Does Carbon Dioxide Come From?, n.d.). However, human induced activities can alter the natural carbon cycle, to include how the atmosphere absorbs the CO2 (Overview of Greenhouse Gases, 2015). Scientists assert that the majority of CO2 emissions is attributed to human activities, up to 82% (Where Does Carbon Dioxide Come From?, n.d.). The three human sources that contribute to the global warming process by means of CO2 emissions: burning fossil fuels, cement production, and deforestation.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), carbon dioxide is the primary gas emitted through human activities and is the most important human contributed greenhouse gas (Overview of greenhouse, 2014). Carbon dioxide is naturally occurring in Earth’s atmosphere. The passing of carbon dioxide through the atmosphere, oceans, soil, plants, and animals is what is known as the carbon cycle. This carbon cycle is important to sustaining life here on Earth. Carbon dioxide is important to life on earth because it is the main component of many biological compounds, minerals, and exists in various forms in the atmosphere (Carbon Cycle, 2014). Humans are disrupting this carbon cycle however by adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and by removing natural absorbers of carbon dioxide, like forests to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is where the greenhouse effect comes into play, since the industrial revolution there has been an increase in the human-related emission of carbon dioxide mainly due to the burning or combustion of fossil fuels for energy. Other contributors include certain industrial processes, the differen...
According to Mr. Steffen, “The primary cause of the observed changes in the Earth’s climate are human activities—mainly the burning of fossil fuels” (Steffen, 2013). The process of burning fossil fuel unleashes a huge amount of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, to the atmosphere, disturbing the balance of greenhouse gases in the nature. As stated by Slaght, “The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities will change th...
The amount of CO2 in a planet's atmosphere affects the temperature of the planet. As more and more CO2 builds up in the atmosphere, less heat can escape and the planet gets hotter. The CO2 traps radiation from the sun like a greenhouse. This is called global warming or the greenhouse effect. Global warming is becoming a serious problem and CO2 is the major cause. The earth is now warmer than it has been in 1000's of years. The amount of CO2 deposited in the earth's atmosphere from human activities is expected to double by the year 2050. It could possible increase by four in the future with developing countries, such as China, anxious to improve their standard of living.
Greenhouse gases play a vital role in the regulation of the Earth's energy balance. Greenhouse gases are a group of natural compounds such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone that are able to trap heat in the atmosphere, keeping the earth's surface warmer than it would if the compounds were not there. The natural gases are the essential reason of the greenhouse effect. An increase in the amount of gases in the atmosphere enhances the greenhouse effect, creating a global warming and consequently climate change. Climate change is one of the most significant threats facing the world today. However the concern and awareness regarding Green House Gases was not vital until Global Warming and Climate Change occurred affecting every living being in the plant along with our planet itself. Author William Nordhaus of Yale University conducted a consensus on the likelihood of substantial warming over the coming century.
This tendency of developed countries to exceed the minimum standard of living combined with the increasing population is steadily depleting nature’s offerings. The nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, and the water cycle have been disrupted as a result of human activity which is destroying the cycle of life.