Global Warming - We CAN Make a Difference
What is global warming, and how is it affecting the Earth and its inhabitants? The greenhouse effect and global warming both correspond with each other. The green house effect is incoming solar radiation that passes through the Earth's atmosphere and heats the earths surface. It absorbed much of the outgoing infrared radiation re-radiated by the Earths surface. As they absorb the infrared the atmosphere becomes warmer. The gases key to this process are water vapor and carbon dioxide and methane. The natural greenhouse effect has kept the Earth's average surface temperature around 33 degrees Celsius, warmer than it would be if there were no atmosphere. The natural gases in the greenhouse effect are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), as well as other trace gases. Life could not exist if there was no natural greenhouse effect. The reason for the natural greenhouse effect is so that all the creatures living on Earth can live and breathe. The global warming refers to a long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth. The greenhouse effect may be what is causing the temperature on the Earth to rise, and creating many problems that will begin to occur in the coming decades.
What are potential consequences to high global air temperature? The warning will be the greatest at the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, with the largest temperature rises occurring in winter. Storms would become more severe all around the world. The Northern Hemisphere will dry out and a greater occurrence of lightning strikes will set massive forest fires. The burning of the Earth by natural and man-made forest fires will release large quantities of carbon dioxide into ...
... middle of paper ...
...ler, Mercedes and Honda are working on hybrid cars that use two engines, one electric and the other gas-powered. They successfully combine the speed and range of a gas-fueled car with the eco-friendly benefits of an electric one. Plant materials and animal waste is being used to produce cleaner fuels such as ethanol and methanol. In addition to sugars and corn kernels new woods and grasses are being grown to produce alcohol fuels. Municipal solid waste is already being drilled to collect methane. The methane can then be gasified to produce clean-burning hydrogen, or fermented into ethanol.
All of these things together can make a huge impact on our Earth and our atmosphere. I think that man is the primary cause of global warming and we can do something about it. But if we continue to live as we do now, there could be major consequences to suffer in the future.
The main reason people have not converted to cleaner, healthier fuel is that hybrid and electric cars are more expensive than the cars and gasoline we are using now. However, we could implement a program for selling cleaner fuel at a lower cost than it is now offered. If this program were organized correctly, the increased costs would be minimal in the long run and the benefits would be enormous. After considering several possibilities, I concluded that alcohol-burning cars are more practical than other environmentally friendly options because electric and hybrid cars or cars that run on natural gas are more expensive and are less convenient to refuel.
Global Warming - A Problem Blown Out of Proportion It is ironic that fifty two years before hosting the 1997 United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the city of Kyoto had barely missed being destroyed. It was one of four cities considered as primary targets by President Harry Truman’s secretary of war, Henry L. Stimson. The others were Kokura, Hiroshima, and Niigata. Gale E. Christianson describes Kyoto in her book Greenhouse as a magnificent city surpassed only by Tokyo in the number of its institutions of higher learning.
When the sun heats the Earth gases are released as well as water vapor. They go into the atmosphere and regulate the temperature. This is known as global warming or the greenhouse effect. Many of the environmental complications derive from the political and social involvement. The climate was not the only cause, but we had humans played a role on what had been occurring to the world. Earth has many different atmospheric layers that are influenced by the greenhouse gases. “Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have now increased nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; methane levels have more than doubled; and nitrous oxide concentrations have risen by about 15 percent” (Fagan 209). The increase of these gases also enhanced the trapping of the heat. With more heat being trapped this lead to many coastlines to flood due to the melting of snow and ice. The increase of dangerous weather actions will pose as a threat also. These changes in the environment would eventually lead to political and social change of the people Overpopulation in certain areas and industry formation influence the greenhouse effect. We as a whole are destroying the place we live, the natural world. Although there are ways to prevent and reduce global warming, we cannot stop the natural occurrence of future climate. Climate is not the only factor, each individual that as
As can be seen, global warming can affect the planet in many ways. Global warming has many causes and effects. The process in which the sun heats the earth can affect earth’s temperature. Climate change affects the overall atmosphere. The planet’s axis tilt effects the seasons & the temperature of the planet at that time. Also, humans and global warming affect each other. What would the people of the future do if planet earth were melted in half and unfit to live in?
We humans cannot help but feel a twinge of regret when we contemplate how we brought forth the plague of global warming by our own hands in the passing years. Aside from rising sea levels as deluging coastal cities and depleting ozone layers as increasing cancer rates, we inevitably come face to face with one simple realization: it’s getting too hot in here. Moreover, we have been devastated by various extremes of nature, with spring frost storms and summer hurricanes arriving with increasing frequency. However, numerous though the causes of global warming may be, the general consensus is that carbon dioxide, which results from the burning of fuels such as coal, is the main culprit; this gas has now formed a high concentration blockade in the atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping and thus increasing the temperatures of our planet. Therefore, after assessing all facts of the problem, I humbly propose that we collect the CO2¬, compress it, and then place it into soda cans. Then, we shall store the soda cans underground, whence the CO2 originally came.
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...
Throughout history climates have drastically changed. There have been shifts from warm climates to the Ice Ages (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009, p.204). Evidence suggests there have been at least a dozen abrupt climate changes throughout the history of the earth. There are a few suspected reasons for these past climate changes. One reason may be that asteroids hitting the earth and volcanic eruptions caused some of them. A further assumption is that 22-year solar magnetic cycles and 11-year sunspot cycles played a part in the changes. A further possibility is that a regular shifting in the angle of the moon orbiting earth causing changing tides and atmospheric circulation affects the global climate (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009, p.205). Scientific studies suggest that all these played a role in past global warming and cooling periods. Today, however, there is a lot of conflict on whether humans are causing a global warming that could be disastrous to humans and all species of plants and animals on this earth. This paper will first explain the greenhouse effect, then take a look at both sides argument, and, finally, analyze the effect of global warming on world-wide sustainability
Humans have caused global warming by doing many things but the main three are burning of fossil fuels and green house gas emission, deforestation, and excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Global warming is like a bad dream going worse.
... areas will get more precipitation and storms while others will get nothing and have serious droughts. The warming of a few degrees will cause glaciers to melt and sea ice to melt leading to a lot of damage. This damage would lead the levels of the oceans to rise and would cause damage to coastal cities and islands. This would cause serious problems for the different species living in the oceans and could some disease. Especially diseases caused by mosquitoes which love warm and humid climates. There are many ideas and solutions to stop global warming. It is very difficult to reverse this process once it is started. If we want to live like we are now and have been we have to stop this process. Emissions of fossil fuels by humans is a big factor of global warming. The reason being is because of the amount of carbon dioxide released from the fossil fuels. Controlling these emissions is one huge step of many steps required to slow down and stop global warming. If global warming is not controlled, all the problems that have been mentioned, along with other problems will disrupt the living patterns in which we live.
Of all the effects of global warming, the extreme weather that is taking place all over the world is the most obvious one. Global warming will bring more heat waves, drought, fiercer wildfires and stronger hurricanes. “This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our everyday lives” (75 yrs NWF). Due to rising temperatures, places everywhere will be affected as we get more extremely hot summer days and lesser winters. In addition, as these rising temperatures shifts the cycle of rain and increases evaporation, there will be longer and drier droughts which in turn can lower the water supply for life everywhere. Wildfires can turn out to be even more catastrophic due to warmer temperatures and drier areas combined with accumulated levels of fuel loads in the forest which has built up as a result of decades of fire suppression activities. Moreover, stronger hurricanes are also an effect of global warming as sea levels are rising and heavier rains are falling near the coasts. Overall, global warming is bringing climates that are changing real fast.
Our planet has managed to survive and thrive for about 4.54 billion years. In the last 2 million years we have caused enough damage and destruction to make our world “broken” beyond repair. We will not be able to get back the world we once had. The reason behind this is global warming, specifically, the increase of the global temperature due to the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere. If we do not make the issue of global warming a priority in today`s society, our entire way of life will be at risk. There are many reasons why so many people believe global warming should be a concern. Thoroughly examined points include: scientific predictions, rising temperatures, human causes, drastic climate changes and animal adaptations. Though there are several points arguing how global warming should not be a concern, the reality of the matter is that it needs to be taken into consideration on a global scale before it is too late, as to do nothing would have devastating implications on humankind.
Climate change can be solved once we are willing to adopt certain changes to our everyday lives. In our society, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the nations decaying infrastructure, are all reasons as to why climate change has become such a subject of great importance. If we are able to change these three parts of our society we can help the environment and slow down the gradual changes of our climates.
Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth's climate. While it changes the Earth’s climate it takes away different species that we depend on and some which other species depend on and also effect (in a bad way) the environment in which we live and can cause permanent damages to humans, animals, plant which will change the whole chain of ecosystem.
Global warming is the gradual rise in temperature and oceans due to recent human activity. This is created by the production of too much carbon dioxide that is released into the earth’s atmosphere. The carbon dioxide, also known as a greenhouse gas, remains in the air trapping heat and gradually warming the planet. Other greenhouse gases such as: methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor also contribute to this slow warming. According to Live Science, The state of these gases being trapped is called the greenhouse effect, which is one of the leading causes of global warming (Lallanillia). All the gases are created differently and have different effects on the earth. As for some greenhouse gases can be in the atmosphere for a short amount of time, other gases can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of
Global warming refers to an unequivocal and continuing rise in the average temperature of earth’s climate system (Wikipedia 1). it was discovered a long time ago around the year 1869. Global warming is primarily caused by a problem of too much carbon dioxide (causes of global warming 1). Carbon dioxide (co2) is harmful to many things a very small amount of it can kill a human. Carbon dioxide survives in the atmosphere for a long time. It won’t affect just our generation but it will affect many generations and climates after we die (causes of global warming 1). I believe that climate extremes would trigger a meteorological chaos. Some of the major contributors to global warming are green house gases, particulates and soot ,and solar activty. Thoughs are some major causes but there are still hundreds more left. The green house effect is the process by which absorption and emisson of in fared radiation by gases in a planets atmosphere warm its lower atmosphere and surface. It was proposed by joseph fourier in 1824 and discovered in 1860 by john tyndall. Human activity ever since the industrial revolution has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the world. (wikipedia 3). One of the first things scientists have learned...