Global Warming: Are Humans to Blame?
Kelly Gaffney
October 10, 2011
SCI 207
Instructor Reale
In order to understand the issue of global warming (also referred to as climate change), you must first understand what it means and how it happens. Global warming is a result of a process known as the greenhouse effect, in which the light and heat from the sun are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases; which subsequently raises the average temperature on Earth. The greenhouse gases responsible for this process are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone, all of which are released into the atmosphere through naturally occurring processes (Warrick, R. & Farmer, G., 1990).
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The idea behind the program is that if consumers are more aware of the impact they are having on the environment with their everyday choices, they would be more likely to opt for a more environmentally friendly option (EPA, 2011). The second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is related to transportation, the burning of oil to produce energy in a combustion motor. The combustion process inside of engines is what produces the carbon matter that is emitted into the air through the exhaust system on gas-powered vehicles. Gas-powered transportation is accountable for 24 percent of the global carbon emissions; this should not come as much of a surprise given the amount of urban sprawl that is being seen in the United States and across the globe. In the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States government, and major car manufacturers have been working in conjunction to find ways to provide a “greener” form of transportation (EPA, 2011). This has included testing the use of hydropower, ethanol, natural gas, biodiesel, and electricity as a means of powering vehicles, which has led to the introduction of hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles run on electricity and gasoline, the byproduct of oil that is generally used in the engine combustion process of vehicles (U.S. Department of
We've all heard about global warming as well as climate change. Climate Change is the buildup of massive amounts of man made greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Causing the Earth's temperature to slowly rise over a long period of time.The amount of carbon dioxide in the air has increased rapidly over the years. Climate Change is a global problem and recently an issue more and more people are paying attention to.
Worldwide temperatures are rising, carbon dioxide is at a hazardous level, ocean acidification, atmosphere boundary shifts, and extreme events are just a few of the worldwide climate changes happening near and far. It is a controversial issue whether it is taking place in the present velocity because of nature or man. However, global climate changes happen naturally, but they ought not to happen at this increased rapidity; therefore, human activity is a great cause that global climate change is happening at an expanded rate. The greatest contribution of human action is the combustion of fossil fuels, which is one of the primary reasons why the carbon dioxide levels are nearing high-hazard strata. Thus, the scientific confirmation supports that the rise in carbon dioxide levels is significantly generated by people, not nature, and people are ultimately the largest contributor to the atmospheric changes; thus, human beings should implement changes to their energy sources and modify agricultural production in order to lessen the quantity of carbon dioxide emitted into the aura at the extraordinary rate it currently is passing.
Earth, a vibrant blue sphere in the solar system, is the only planet in the solar system that is currently known to host a multitude of life. Everything needed to survive and thrive is provided under a thin veil of atmosphere that separates all terrestrial organisms from the vast, frigid void of space. Earth is made up of intricate, collaborating systems that are often unpredictable. Land, water, air, and life-bearing organisms, including humans, collaborate to create a constantly fluctuating biosphere that is still being investigated to have a deeper understanding of its processes. In today’s technological age, the collection and interpretation of data has become paramount to help devise strategies to combat future threats. Data collection comes in many forms, but the collection and interpretation of climate data will be the topic under scrutiny. Recent data collected and analyzed by scientists suggests that the global climate is increasing in temperature and that information may be a cause for alarm. Why would this be a cause for alarm? The alarm should come from an understanding of how each living organism depends on one another to survive. If the delicate biological cycle is damaged or broken, the results could be catastrophic; forever changing the planet. This change in temperature may potentially affect all organisms that are currently known and those that have yet to be discovered and documented. This scenario is far too
It is largely known that the most significant issue facing the planet today is global warming. There is no doubt it is one of the biggest environmental issues throughout time, though it is widely debated among scientists and environmentalists what the main causes are. Global warming isn’t a new issue, in only 1989 the UK Prime Minister at the time warns that the increasing emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are going to have a significant impact on the earth in the future (BBC News, 2013). The warming of the earth is caused by greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide that trap long-wave radiation in the atmosphere. This warming of the earth surface is referred to as the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases are the gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapour which accumulate in the atmospheric layers prevent heat being radiated from the earth to escape. Without greenhouse gases the earth would be considerably cooler but with increased human activities, temperatures are rising to an unstable level (Arbogast, 2011).
Global Warming is an increase of the average temperature in the earth's atmosphere. According to some scientists, global warming is caused by carbon dioxide and other air pollutants. It is also caused by the greenhouse gasses in the Earth's atmosphere and the absorbing of the the sunlight. Greenhouse gases is a gas that's in the atmosphere that absorbs the radiation within the thermal range. The first person who apparently discovered global warming was Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist. In 1896, he was the first person to claim that fossil fuel combustion may result in enhanced global warming. People think that global warming is real and that the temperature is rising, but I have reasons why it's not real. Overall, that is all about global warming and its
How are humans inducing global warming? For beginners, we will start off with the greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases act as Earth 's blanket. According to the U.S. Energy Information, an organization that provides information on energy and its interaction with the environment, greenhouse gases are mixed in the atmosphere, blocking and trapping the sun 's infrared radiation from leaving the planet, thus warming the Earth 's surface (U.S. Energy Information, 2014). This is the greenhouse effect. Such gases that contribute to the
Have you ever asked yourself what does the global warming mean? What is it caused by? According to Dictionary.com global warming means, “An increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.” Svante Arrhenius, the Swedish chemist who coined the term of global warming in 1896 and launched the theory, says that the burning of fossil fuels will increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and that will lead to increase global temperatures. Also, he concluded that in the case of doubled carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, we would see a higher rate of 4 to 5 degrees Celsius in the glob’s temperature. That what we could see today because of the atmosphere currently contains 380 ppm of carbon dioxide gas, which is the primary cause of global warming, compared with the 275 ppm that existed in the atmosphere before the Industrial Revolution. The most important gas that plays role in the temperature rising is methane; it consists of the interactions of microbial in rice paddies and ruminant livestock and burning of biomass, which are trees, plants, and animal waste, also as the result of water from the swamp muddy. In addition to methane gas, there is the nitrous oxide which consists of microbial interactions occur in water and soil. Moreover, there is a group of CFC gases which cause erosion of the ozone layer, and finally ozone gas which is
Climate Change “refers to changes in the Earth’s climate caused by increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other pollutants produced by human activity.” Global warming is the increase of the average surface temperature on Earth caused by the excess release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases occur naturally, but in excess it could be harmful to the Earth. Composition of greenhouse gases traps heat from the sun, and this is what helps the Earth stay warm enough to sustain life. The more heat they trap, the warmer the earth gets, and as the planet gets warmer it creates climate changes. The greenhouse gases that are making the earth warmer are generated by human activity. One of the main greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide, which is being mostly released by the burning of fossil fuels. Other gases are Methane, which is released through industrial and agricultural processes and Nitrogen Dioxide which is a product of some industrial processes.
“The word ' global warming' was first introduced in 1983 as the name for a condition of overall rising temperatures on Earth and attendant consequences as a result of human activity. Originally theoretical, it has been popularized as a reality since 1989”. When the various greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) collect in the atmosphere, it absorbs the solar radiation and traps the heat in the atmosphere resulting to increase in temperature of the Earth. This phenomenon is called global warming. Global warming is also referred as climate change.
Global warming is a result of carbon dioxide, pollutants and greenhouse gasses being trapped in the atmosphere and absorbing our sunlight and solar radiation. This radiation is supposed to be released into space, but these pollutants are causing the radiation to linger in the atmosphere for centuries (MacMillian). Specifically, greenhouse gas, like carbon dioxide, is responsible for trapping the atmospheres heat and regulating our climate. The act as blanket, but as the thickness of the blanket increases so does the average surface temperature of Earth. The thickening of this layer surrounding the Earth is linked to the increase of carbon
Global warming ' is one facet of the broader term 'climate change. It is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth 's surface air and oceans from the mid 20th century and the projected continuation. The Global warming is primarily the consequence of building up greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Emission rates for most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, CO2, have increased 120 fold in the past 140 years. While in the 19th century, emissions were mostly from deforestation and the other land use changes, now they are predominantly from burning fossil fuels. As CO2 in the atmosphere has the lifetime of more than a century, the historic emissions play the
Previously, climate change was believed to happen naturally. However, over the years, scientists have started to argue that anthropogenic factors are the main contributor. Scientists have also been more confident and forthright in informing the public that climate change is caused by human activities. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report mentions that “human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history” (2013). In addition, most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic Green House Gas (GHG) concentrations (IPCC AR4 2007). In fact, there are many other anthropogenic impacts that cause climate change.
Global warming is defined as a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth 's atmosphere. (Google definition). The warming is generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants in the atmosphere. There is overwhelming evidence to support the existence of global warming, its cause and the time is how to act to reduce green houses gasses. Human activity is the major cause for global warming. Greenhouse gases (CO2) are directly caused by human consumption and burning of fossil fuels.
Global warming is a phrase that has been used in recent history that describes Earth’s surface temperature being warmed. Throughout history, there has been three global warming’s. They occurred in 1850; from about 1860-1880, 1915-1945, and 1975-1978 (see graph). The current warming was thought to have been generated by the discharge by man of carbon dioxide. All three of these periods of warming were divided into a period of universal cooling. The warming/cooling cycles, and their conjoined change in rain patterns are called climate change. Climate change has been happening for the past 11,000 years since the last ice age. Research has recently shown that this abrupt curve is probably a product of what is known as the “heat island effect” rather than be just called global warming. Overall, at its simplest, “climate change”- is simply known as global warming and “climate disruption.” Reason it is called a climatic disruption is because a phenomenon occurs that cause’s weather arrangement and temperatures too change to quickly and unknowingly on a universal scale. Global Warming is an occurrence of increasing average air temperatures close to the Earth’s exterior for over the past two centuries. Since the 20th century, weather scientists have assembled studies of different weather occurrences such as; temperatures, rain, and different kinds of storms. Also studies on the Earth’s ocean currents and the atmosphere’s overall chemical arrangement. This
Usually when people think of global warming they usually think of all the countries being very hot and people getting heat strokes. Although global warming does make the earth warmer, there is way more to it in the effects of global warming than just heat. Global warming is the observed and projected increases in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans. And it brings with it many negative effects such as; the increase in the temperature of the atmosphere, the melting of the ice caps, the loss of species, the increase of storms, diseases, and economic consequences. The factors that cause global warming are divided into two categories, the first category is natural causes and, of course, the second category; the human influences that provokes global warming.