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co2 emissions and its effects
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I believe the world is being faced with a serious issue of global climate change due to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process in the Earth's atmosphere that warms the planet. Without the greenhouse effect, on average, the Earth's surface would be about 60oF colder. The greenhouse effect occurs when visible light from the sun passes through the atmosphere and is absorbed by the Earth's surface. Some of that energy is then sent back to the atmosphere as heat. However, greenhouse gases trap that heat, which would otherwise be released into space, raising the temperature of the atmosphere and the Earth's surface. Increases in the amount of greenhouse gases, due to human activities, intensify the heat trapped by the atmosphere and as a result, cause global warming and climate change. Consequently, human behaviors including industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes in land use, such as deforestation, cause emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which can be blamed for the increasingly warmer temperatures.
People enhance the greenhouse effect primarily by burning fossil fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas. These fuels are stored carbon, formed millions of years ago from organic matter. When they are burned, that carbon returns to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, which is the biggest contributor to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Each year, fossil fuel use adds an estimated 5.5 gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere through naturally and anthropogenicly; while CFC-12, HCFC-22, perfluoromethane, sulfur hexafluoride occur only as a result of industrial processes (human a...
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...t 25% of the 1990 carbon dioxide emissions, it was predicted that without the U.S.'s participation, the Kyoto Protocol would never be put into action. Although President Bush does not agree with the protocol; fortunately, his opponent in the 2004 Presidential election, John Kerry, believes that global warming is a severe problem, and that the actions Bush are taking are simply not sufficient. He believes that people will not voluntarily change their habits and that laws must be created to stop further emissions of greenhouse gases.
Hopefully the United States will come to the realization of the severity of global warming before it is too late. What we do in the near future to combat Global Warming will greatly affect future generations. It is important we recognize the severity of the threat that is upon us and do everything necessary to make a change.
The gradual warming of temperatures doesn’t just effect us though, there are numerous other plants and animals that will be threatened, or even pushed to extinction due to these changes. I believe it is our duty to fix the problem that we created, but it is more easily said than done. Megablazes, droughts, or even species extinction due to human stubbornness is unacceptable. Although climate change is a gradual issue, the factors that contribute to it need to be managed right away. Again, Global warming is caused by UV radiation reflecting between the ozone layer and the earth. The ozone consists of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, which humans are the main source of. If we could better manage our carbon dioxide and methane output through less omissions or a carbon tax, I think we could effectively begin to curb the problem of climate
From the beginning the United States was viewed as the villain. Undersecretary of State, Stuart Eizenstat, and head of the U.S. delegation, let it be known that no amount of pressure could force the administration to flinch. “We want an agreement, but we are not going to Kyoto at any cost” (qtd. in Christianson 255). Vice President Al Gore added: “We are perfectly prepared to walk away from an agreement that we don’t think will work” (qtd. in Christianson 255). It was quite obvious that the United States did not want to be there – and for good reason.
Over the past years, planet Earth has been warming up. According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, average temperatures have risen around1.4 degrees Fahrenheit/0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880. In fact, the rate of warming is increasing. It was reported by a number of climate studies that the last two decades were the hottest in 400 years. Global warming is a major threat to the planet. It is agreed that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing greenhouse gasses, as we power our electronic lives. The “greenhouse effect” is performed when the gasses let out into Earth’s atmosphere trap heat from the sun. Through the burning of fossil fuels, humans are enhancing the greenhouse effect and increasing the temperatures of the planet. Although the greenhouse effect is what keeps the planet warm, thereby supporting life, too much would also result in severe issues. Now, with the increasing rate of greenhouse gases emissions, frozen glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, and wildlife is scrambling to keep up with the fast pace. Above that, weather can also become more and more extreme. Something has to be done.
People need to stop and think for a minute, away from the unfounded claims of inevitable catastrophe and think in a well-educated manner about the actual implications ahead. There is too much uncertainty in how emissions actually have affected, and will affect the climate. Upon moderate investigation, weather events that have been blamed turn out to not have any correlation. Science doesn’t know everything of the impacts of carbon dioxide, nor can they ever know. Global climate change is such a popular topic, but it actually seems to turn out to be a lot of misinformed hype and opinion. The public needs to set aside the hype about global warming and consider the facts and uncertainties surrounding it, rather than just swimming with the current.
Before a person can tackle handling the concept of global warming, they first must analyze the true definition of what it is. Climate change periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about as a result of changes in the atmosphere as well as interactions between the atmosphere and various other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic factors within the Earth 's system. (britannica) Since all 196 countries in the world have to share the oxygen and carbon dioxide, we all should take a part in the responsibility of taking care of earth. On November 6, 2012 President Obama said that we want our children to live in a world without the destructive power of a warming planet. The biggest challenge we face is not only saving a warming
Climate change is occurring at unprecedented rates and is mainly caused by the human expansion of the “greenhouse’ effect which can eventually cause potentially damaging effects in the decades ahead. The natural greenhouse effect is paramount to the maintenance of life because it regulates the Earth's surface temperature from becoming too cold that is unsuitable for life. The earth naturally produces greenhouse gases that make up the earth's atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These naturally produced gases are good for the earth in certain quantities by protecting it from receiving an excess amount of energy from the sun. When the sun shines light rays onto the earth, a number of the rays are absorbed by the planet, while much of the rays are reflected back to the atmosphere. The greenhouse gases within the atmosphere absorb some of this energy, whereas the rest is reflected back into space, as a naturally occurring cycle that is required to keep the Earth's surface warmer. The problem is that humans are producing far too much amount of greenhouse gases as a result of increased human activities that demand the utilization of energy, which has led to emissions and a elevate in greenhouse gases. A rise within these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means more heat is trapped in the atmosphere, which tilts the odds of a warmer average temperature that has a greater chance to influence climate change. Nevertheless, a small increase in temperature grows the odds of the negative effects of climate change. Particularly, as the conditions on the planet get warmer due to the number of greenhouse gases being produced there is an increase in the occurrence of record-breaking events including heat waves, droughts, elevating sea level, and the increase prevalence of extreme weather. With the perpetuating vicious cycle,
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the earth at temperatures that are livable. Energy from the sun warms the earth when its heat rays are absorbed by greenhouse gasses and become trapped in the atmosphere. Some of the most common greenhouse gasses are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. If there were no greenhouse gasses, very few rays would be absorbed and the earth would be extremely cold. When too many rays are absorbed the earth’s atmosphere heats up and it causes what we know as global warming. Al Gore (2006) described the greenhouse effect as the potentially most dangerous environmental problem facing mankind, with consequences second only to nuclear war (p.299). As the name suggests, global warming isn’t merely affecting parts of the world, it is threatening the world globally.
Global Warming, much of what does or does not happen forty years from now rests on our actions or inactions taken between now and then. The crucial question is whether we should pour all our resources into mitigation – reducing our carbon emissions. According to scientists who study the climate there are other environmental problems; “we now face a global crises in land use and agriculture that could undermine the health, security, and sustainability of our civilization”.
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
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
According to The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Temperature records from as far back as 1850 show that the globe has on average warmed by 0.8 degrees celsius, and further analysis has shown that since the 1970s each decade has been warmer.” (IPPC, 2007). It is expected to keep getting warmer according to IPPC and they also are estimating that the average temperature will be 2.5-4.7 degrees celsius higher in 2100. It has also been found that climate change is due to the greenhouse effect which is also produced from human activity. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have increased so rapidly since the Industrial Revolution that they are now changing our climate very quickly. High levels are collecting heat that is being reflected from the land and ocean and is making the air and water temperatures warmer because it is preventing it from escaping the Earth’s atmosphere. In order to keep this from happening human activities such as fossil fuel, deforestation and the conversion of land for agricultural use needs to be used
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,
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 gasses. The gasses then become trapped in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide are the most common greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gases cause the radiant heat of the sun to be trapped in the Earths lower atmosphere which causes global warming. If there weren’t any greenhouse gasses, the earth would be really cold due to very little sun rays being absorbed on the earth. Global warming can and will lead to several problems that affect the environment in which we humans live in. These problems can lead to warmer temperatures all around the world, it can endanger animals and the wildlife, and it can lead to widespread flooding from the glaciers melting. Here are a few more future effects that I will discuss in more detail about. Damage to human health, Severe stress on forests, wetlands, and other natural habitats, how fish will be affected. Global warming is a serious problem that will affect our generation when we are older.
In conclusion, many facts point to global warming being detrimental to our world. With scientific predictions, rising temperatures, human causes, drastic climate changes and animal adaptations being some of the more thought about topics it`s hard not to agree that our world can not continue to be used as it is. Even with some scientists arguing against the topic, our Earth`s orbit changing the temperatures before and have been through hotter and cooler time periods the pros still outweigh the cons. This is why we, as a global population, need to take into consideration the outcome of our planet should we continue to abuse it the way we do. Our earth and resources are not a right but a privilege and we should learn to treat them as such before we no longer have either.
... of extreme weather and melting ice caps are indicators of global warming. Because these things will affect society, there are important decisions that have to be made in the present as well as in the future to secure people’s lives and lifestyles. The world community is aware of this serious issue and do already prepare for projects to slow down global warming, but they still have to improve. If the world leaders stop worrying about this issue, the future generations could be in danger. The future lifestyles will be affected by the decisions made in the present day. Society has much to improve to save energy and to lower greenhouse gas emissions. There are also small things people can do to help. Individuals can live a life without wasting energy or polluting the environment. Without effort, global warming endangers the quality of life for the future generations.