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Effects of global warming on the planet
Effects of global warming on the planet
Effect of global warming
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An increase in the Earth’s average surface air temperature is referred to as global warming. Global warming is part of a natural cycle and is not caused by an increase in Carbon Dioxide emissions from humans. Humans are therefore not responsible for global warming.
Global warming is part of a natural cycle of climate change. The Pleistocene describes the time period that spanned from 1.8 million to approximately 10 000 years ago. During the Pleistocene, significant advances of continental ice sheets in North America and Europe occurred. The Holocene Maximum was a time period that occurred approximately 11 000 years ago and it marked the end of the Ice-age. The temperatures then, were much higher than they are today. The time period between 900 and 1300 AD is known as the Medieval Warm Period ' where higher temperatures were documented in historical accounts. The Little Ice Age took place between the 16th to the mid 19th century. During this period the polar ice caps extended considerably further from the poles than they do currently. Accordingly it is acceptable to state that climate change and hence global warming is part of the Earth’s natural cycle.
It is alleged that global warming is ‘man-made’ due to it being caused by greenhouse gases (most notably Carbon Dioxide) that contribute to the ‘greenhouse effect’. The sun radiates shortwave radiation through the upper part of the atmosphere to the Earth. The Earth’s surface is warmed and the Earth radiates longwave infrared rays to space. Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation from the sun and radiate it back to Earth. The Earth’s surface is warmed by the reflected heat which consequently leads to global warming.
Man-made Carbon Dioxide emissions alone cannot be...
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Gutmann, E. (2008). Investigating “The Great Global Warming swindle. Ars Technica. (Online). Available: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2008/04/investigating-the-great-global-warming-swindle.ars. [Accessed: 1 March 2009].
People are responsible for higher carbon dioxide atmosphere emissions, while the Earth is now into the Little Ice Age, or just behind it. These factors together cause many years discussions of the main sources of climate changes and the temperature increasing as a result of human been or natural changes and its consequences; even if its lead to the global warming, or to the Earth’s cooling. In their articles, “Global Warming Is Eroding Glacial Ice” by Andrew C. Revkin and “Global Warming Is Not a Threat to Polar Ice” by Philip Stott, both authors discuss these two theories (Revkin 340; Stott 344). Revkin is right that global warming is taking place. Significant increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is due to human activities combined with natural factors such as volcanic emissions and solar radiation – all together they lead to climate changes and temperatures rising. At the same time, other factors such as deforestation contribute to environmental changes for some glaciers not less than air pollution. However, during global warming not all regions of the planet are affected in the same way, local warming and cooling are both possible during these changes.
Firstly, global warming is said to be caused by the high levels of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by humans. Smoke produced by factories, vehicular exhaust, and the burning of fossil fuels such as coal in power plants are the primary sources of carbon dioxide. The theory is that carbon dioxide being released into the Earth's atmosphere is steadily building up because it cannot escape into space. The theory as to why the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually causes the Earth's average temperature to rise is outlined as follows:
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society faces today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today, the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been the slowest” (geocraft).
Global warming and global climate change is the study of future increases of temperature across the globe. Studying climate change refers to how the over- all climate will change such as the dry places getting dryer and the wet places getting wetter. Global climate is dependent on “the greenhouse effect a natural process that helps regulate temperature” (Easterling and Karl). In the past few centuries humans have had a monumental effect on increasing of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change is result of the increase amount of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere such as methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and ozone. “Global temperature has rose approximately 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over
Furthermore, this analysis must take place amidst serious gaps in the existing research and technology concerning the developing climatic conditions. For these reasons, global warming stands as one of the most daunting policy issues facing our world today. This is compounded by the debate over the very existence of climate change. While countless sources of empirical evidence testify to the very real presence of climate change the world over, considerable denial of the phenomenon still exists. The argument has been made that evidence of climate change is a gross overstatement, or in some cases, a complete fabrication.
Robinson, Arthur B. and Zachary W. "Science Has Spoken: Global Warming Is a Myth." 04 Dec 1997. Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. 16 Jan. 2005 .
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.
Global warming and the greenhouse effect are issues discussed by scientists all the time. A natural process that keeps earths temperature at a livable rate is called the greenhouse effect. The energy from the sun warms up the earth when the rays from the sun are absorbed by greenhouse gases. The gasses then become trapped in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide are the most common greenhouse gases.
Global warming is also referred to as climate change. Climate is a measure of the average pattern of variation in temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, and other variables in a given region over a period of time. The climate of Earth has been noticeably increasing since the Industrial Revolution (School, Climate Change, 2014). Scientist can tell climate change using a couple of different kinds of methods. A couple of the methods that these scientists use are looking at tree rings and observing ...
Mastrandrea, Michael D. "Global warming." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
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
Gore, Al. The Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do about It. New York: Rodale, 2006. Print.
Earth’s temperature is greatly influenced by the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth, but recent studies have shown that the sun’s solar output has decreased in the past decades. Evidence to support this claim is that the troposphere (innermost layer of the atmosphere) has gotten warmer while the mesosphere (third layer of the atmosphere) has gotten cooler. If the sun was the only cause of global warming, the atmosphere would be getting hotter from top to bottom which is not the case because it’s getting hotter from bottom to top. The greenhouse effect also plays a key role in the Earth’s climate. The greenhouse effect occurs when solar radiation absorbed by the
Global warming is an increase in the earth's temperature due to fossil fuels, industry, and agricultural processes caused by human, natural, and other gas emissions. This results in an increased evacuation of greenhouse gases. “Short-wave solar radiation sinks into the Earth's atmosphere and warms its surface while long-wave infrared radiation emitted by earth's surface is absorbed, and then re-emitted by trace gases.” (2)
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...