Through the Earth’s geological history, it has often been frozen in the grips of various ice ages, interrupted with brief warming periods. For the past 10,000 to 50,000 years, the Earth has been enjoying the latest period of global warming. The Earth’s surface temperature is protected by its atmosphere, of which carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major component. There is a strong relationship between CO2 and the surface temperature on Earth. CO2 levels would naturally rise as the Earth warms up. However, over the past 200 years, humans have contributed to CO2 levels rising dramatically, way above even the highest historical levels, and this has hastened global warming.
Lutgens and Tarbuck (2014) explain that the Earth’s atmosphere greatly influences its surface temperature and its life-giving environment. The major components of the atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen, composing about 99% of the atmosphere. The next major component is carbon dioxide (CO2). Additional variable components are water vapor, aerosols, and ozone (O3). Both water vapor and CO2 act like a greenhouse by conserving the heat emitted from the Earth. Aerosols are solid and liquid particles that float in the atmosphere and can either reflect or absorb the sun’s radiation. Two examples of an aerosol are man made pollution or ash from a volcanic eruption. These aerosols can reduce the temperature on Earth, because they effectively block sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface. Ozone sits on the stratosphere like a layer. This layer of ozone absorbs the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Each component of the atmosphere guards the Earth’s current habitable state.
CO2 is released and absorbed into the atmosphere as part of the carbon cycle. CO2 is...
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...d through various ice ages, punctuated with brief warming periods through its geological history. The last 10,000 to 50,000 years, the Earth has experienced global warming. The CO2 concentration levels are strongly linked with the warming and cooling of the Earth. While this is the natural process, the human contribution of significant levels of additional CO2 has intensified and hastened the warming effect.
References
CO2Now.org (2008-2013). Earth’s CO2 home page. ProOxygen. Retrieved from: http://co2now.org/
Lutgens, F.K., Tarbuck, E.J. & Tasa, D. (2014). Foundations of earth science (7th ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice Hall.
Schlumberger Excellence in Education Development [SEED](2013). Global climate change and energy: co2 and temperature change. Retrieved from http://www.planetseed.com/relatedarticle/co2-and-temperature-change
First, during the last few decades the Earth is experiencing greater rate of rising temperatures due to greenhouse gases that are being produced by human activities rather than because of environmental reasons, such as solar or volcanic activities. In 2006 the President of the National Academy of Sciences stated: “There is no doubt that the Earth is warming,” also he added that people are at least partly responsible for these changes in addition to regular factors (Cicerone, par.4). Natural factors have produced climate fluctuations on Earth for several million years. People have effected an atmosphere of the Earth just for nearly one hundred years, since Industrial Revolution has begun (Revkin 340). Of course, it is unfair to say that global warming is caused entirely by humans. For example, people can not have an impact on the position of Earth in relation to the sun, or on the galactic density, or such nature events as air emissions of volcanic gases. As a result of these environmental factors, Earth usually had higher rates of temperature fluctuations during the previous million years than it has in later centuries. On the other hand, people are responsible for the highest concentration of greenhouse gases during the last 650,000 years in the atmosphere due to industrial manufacturing, driven by the increase in consumer consumption (Lindsey, par.
"Climate and CO2 in the Atmosphere." Climate and CO2 in the Atmosphere. University of California, San Diego, 2002. Web. 26 June 2014. .
...i, X., . . . Johnson, C. A. (Eds.). (2001). Climate change 2001: The scientific basis : contribution of Working Group I to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.
The major effect most scientists fear as the result of increased levels of CO2 in our atmosphere is global warming. By blocking the heat reflected from the Earth's surface, greenhouse gases are able to warm the planet in a similar way to how glass warms up a greenhouse. Without this greenhouse effect, it is calculated our planet would be 35 degrees Celsius cooler worldwide, causing oceans to freeze and greatly altering life (Doyle, 1996). Accordi...
Pipkin, Bernard W.. Geology and the environment. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
The Earth’s current CO2 level is at 393.84ppm (CO2now, 2013). This is the highest of the high levels in the past 450,000 years. Extra carbon dioxide in the air is believed to keep temperatures steady and contributing to the greenhouse effect which causes the planet to warm. Scientists believe that humans add CO2 through the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and livestock farming to name a few. Natural processes also contribute to the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere including forest fires. Two sources on Earth remove CO2 from the atmosphere: Trees and the ocean. Deforestation can contribute to global warming because trees absorb carbon dioxide and when trees are removed the Earth loses its natural carbon storehouses. Phytoplankton consume CO2 through the photosynthesis process and transport it from the ocean’ surface to the deep. These sources eliminate 30-50% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Evidence of global climate change is in an abundance everywhere we look. The atmosphere’s level of carbon dioxide has increased dramatically to the point where it is causing the average temperature to rise because carbon dioxide holds in heat. The latest measurement,
Human induced climate change resulting from an enhanced greenhouse effect is probably the greatest environmental threat facing the world today. Specifically, the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide may be classified as the primary culprit. As a result of greenhouse gases entering the upper levels of the earth's atmosphere, it diminishes or breaks down the earth's Ozone layer. With this loss of this protective blanket, harmful radioactive rays from the sun enter the deeper into the earth's atmosphere. This creates a rise in the overall temperature of our planet, along with alterations in the global environment, ecosystems and way of life for the habitants of earth.
Global temperatures have noticeably been rising since the mid 1800’s.The average temperature has increased by 0.6 ± 0.2°C since 1860 according to (John Sweeney, 2003)with accelerated warming apparent in the latter decades of the 20th century. The legitimacy of global warming had long been debated, however in a report by (IPCC, 2007) it states that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level. Simulations on models such as EC-Earth provide us with predictions for future climate change. Depending on levels of emissions an increase of 1 to 5.5 degrees celsius is expected in average global temperatures by 2100.
An example of drastic changes in temperature include all the ice ages we have had. There have been five major ice ages that we have confirmed in our history. The first one was between 2.4 and 2.1 billion years ago and is referred to as the Huronian ice age. The second ice ages which is referred to as the Cryogenian ice age, it was between 850 and 635 million years ago. The Andean-Saharan ice age took place between 460 and 430 million years ago, as our third ice age. The fourth ice age took place between 360 and 260 million year ago, being called the Karoo ice age. The final ice age , to many people’s surprise, is still going on ever since 2.6 million years ago and is called the Quaternary ice age. Aside from multiple ice ages, we have had periods showing similar characteristics like the ones in today’s global warming. An infamous period of heat between 950 and 1250 is referred to as the Medieval Warming Period. Due to possible changes in the ocean's circulation, increase in solar activity, or a downfall in volcanic activity, the Earth began to increase temperatures within a short period of time. Following this period was one known as the Little Ice Age between 1300 and 1870. Over the course of this period, North America and Europe experienced much colder winters than we do today. Throughout all of human history, the global climate has went up and down multiple times during multiple time periods, due
Lutgens, F. & Tarbuck, E. (2014) Foundations of earth science. (7th ed.) Upper Saddle River,
50% of the CO2 released by the burning of fossil fuels have already been absorbed. The
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,
As we approach the future we are faced with many global problems. Most of these problems arise because we have caused them ourselves. We need to face these problems and find a solution. Global warming, although most often overlooked in importance, is a crucial problem of the future directly related to human activities. Global warming is caused by gases humans release into the atmosphere called anthropogenic gases and by deforestation. Anthropogenic gases include carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofl...
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...