Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay on the greenhouse effect
How Does Human Activity Primarily Affect Global Climate
An essay on the greenhouse effect
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: An essay on the greenhouse effect
Jennifer Cantero
Period 7
October 18, 2017
“Climate Change” What is Climate Change? The world is always changing and many things can contribute to the changes it’s going through. Currently for the past years Earth has been going through many environmental changes and not for the greater good. The current of continuous warmth of the Earth is raising alarming warnings from companies like NASA. Climate change is the current headline for every news report currently. Rightly so, climate change has been occurring for many years, however, due to a lot activity harming the Earth and so far, currently 2017 has been the highest point of instability in e.g. global warming. Climate change occupies a wider scale of topics that are evidence to prove
…show more content…
Causes of climate change include longtime exposure of solar irradiance, human activity, and the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is when the sun’s rays shine through the ozone layer and certain gases in the atmosphere don’t allow heat to escape the atmosphere. These gases forced to stay in the atmosphere are “forcing” climate change on the earth. The gases included the greenhouse effect include methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and nitrous oxide. This acts as a thermal energy blanket for the earth warming it beyond its point of a stable endpoint. The most abundant greenhouse gas is water vapor. Water vapor increases as the Earth’s atmosphere warms. Carbon dioxide is released through natural processes respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities. A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock. On a molecule-for-molecule basis, methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also one which is much less abundant in the atmosphere. A powerful greenhouse gas produced by soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass
Climate change is a major issue that is only going to get worse. Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns. It has become more apparent since the mid to late 20th century onwards and is attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Climate change has been an important issue for decades that has effects on the environment and people of the world with the end result potentially being catastrophic. Although many believe that prolific use of fossil fuels is the direct cause of climate change, there are many more underlying causes including population expansion as well as irresponsible consumption of natural resources that have
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)
Over the course of recent history, much concern has been raised over the industrial revolution and the potential climate changes that it might be causing. It has been stated by global warming theorist that C02 emissions caused by human technologies are causing the world to warm, which will cause negative climate changes. The Earth may be experiencing a global warming trend and climate change; however, the process of climate change is outside of human control because human activity can barely account for any of the C02 level increases. Attempts to reduce human C02 emissions is needlessly expensive, and will have a negligible role in preventing or slowing any climatic changes such as global warming or an impending ice age. People must be prepared to adapt to the climatic changes that occur, because it is unlikely that human intervention will postpone them or limit the impact of their arrival.
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
The emission of carbon dioxide has contributed to 80% to the heating of the earth atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced due the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal and oil. The burning of fossil fuel is very important in our society today, because it is used for cooking, used to produce electricity, for heating, for cooling and also for transportation. The industrialization has led to the use of fossil fuel for running machines and driving cars. The building of fossil fuel contributes towards 80-90% of the carbon dioxide we find in our atmosphere today. When the ecosystems are altered and vegetation is either burned or took out, the carbon stored in them is relinquished to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (What causes global climate change, 2005). Methane is another gas being produced in the process which all have served to increase the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere. Methane is produced from the cultivation of rice, from the burning of coal and from cattle, it has increased by 145% due to human
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,
Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms, such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC project, even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies, global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damage in the future. It is estimated that global temperature will rise by 1.8 oC - 4.0 oC by the end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009).
In recent years global warming has been on the rise. The importance of this issue is so that we as a nation can be aware of the drastic changes which are occurring rapidly around the world. Although there isn 't one set resolution to solve climate change, we must continue to carry out ways to put it to a halt. Some of the ways I believe we can cut this crisis is to stop polluting the manufacturing of toxic gases which is filling our environment with smog. If we all put our ideas and opinions in ways to prevent some causes of climate change, the world in which we live will be a better place. Instead of being a part of the problem we can be a part of the solution. Opposed to just humans, animals, and other species are affected as a result of
Climate Change is any substantial change in climate that lasts for an extended period of time. One contributor to current climate change is global warming, which is an increase in Earth’s average temperature. Plants and animal species throughout the world are being affected by rising temperatures. Many plants are flowering earlier now than they once did; animals, such as the yellowbellied marmot, are emerging from hibernation earlier; and many bird and butterfly species are migrating north and breeding earlier in the spring than they did a few decades ago, all because of slight changes in temperature cues. (Shuster)
In the modern era, climate change is a variation of weather over a long period of time, and it is the most important and controversial global issue. It is arguable in different positions, especially on science, culture, and politics. These three fields all cause a lot of latent concerns. The science of climate change brings out several harmful phenomenon, such as global warming. With respect to the climate change, the culture of humanity may be changed because the changing climate is the most important key factor of forming today’s human societies. Instead, climate change is now a political issue, which will affect the public attitudes directly. In other words, it means the government tends to review and provide latest information in order to adapt and retard the climate change. Over a long period of time, climate change has been taking place because of human activities that affect the scientific, cultural, and political sides.
According to the Canada’s Action on Climate Change, Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, extreme events. Climate change is one of the biggest crisis in the earth. It will cause a huge damage to the eco-system and human. We are the victims of the climate change. However, we are the one who cause the climate change.
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...
Climate changes occur in our earth's atmosphere due to a buildup of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can occur naturally as well as a result of human activities. The greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. “Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels, and wood are burned.” (2) The gases help to warm the surface of the Earth. Each greenhouse gas absorbs heat differently. If natural gases did not occur, the temperature of the earth would be considerably cooler. “Problems can occur when higher concentrations of greenhouse gases are present in our atmosphere because they have enhanced our earth's heat trapping capability.” (3)
Global warming is one of the most serious issues that the human species face today, yet the majority of the population does not pay attention to it. People are not aware of the dangers and do not care about it much because the main effects will affect the next generation and not themselves. Global warming is happening and it is the reason for changing weather and weather extremes such as earthquakes, floods and wildfires. Global warming is caused by societies lifestyle and these lifestyles destroy the environment and affect the whole world. The use of cars, trains, planes, as well as wasting energy for people’s entertainment has a price; this price is that society is in danger.
Climate change is caused due to the release of few carbon compounds into the atmosphere, which drastically brought the weather changes all over the world. Climate change is not confined to a single region. It has become an important issue all over the world for the past few years.