Global warming 3
Global warming 3 -Global Warming
What is global warming, and how is it affecting the Earth and it’s inhabitants? Global Warming is sometimes referred to as the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is the absorption of energy radiated from the Earth’s surface by carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere, causing the atmosphere to become warmer. The greenhouse effect is what is causing the temperature on the Earth to rise, and creating many problems that will begin to occur in the coming decades. For the last 10,000 years, the Earth’s climate has been extraordinarily beneficial to mankind. "Humans have prospered tremendously well under a benign atmosphere," (Bates 28).
Today, however, major changes are taking place. People are conducting an inadvertent global experiment by changing the face of the entire planet. We are destroying the ozone layer, which allows life to exist on the Earth’s surface. All of these activities are unfavorably altering the composition of the biosphere and the Earth’s heat balance. If we do not slow down our use of fossil fuels and stop destroying, the forests, the world could become hotter than it has been in the past million years. Average global temperatures have risen 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last century. If carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continue to spill into the atmosphere, global temperatures could rise five to 10 degrees by the middle of the next century.
The warning will be the greatest at the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, with the largest temperature rises occurring in winter. Most areas will experience summertime highs well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. New temperature records will be set each year.
As a possible prelude to global warming, the decade of the 1980’s has had the six hottest years of the century (Erandson 18-22). Atmospheric disturbances brought on by the additional warming will produce more violent storms and larger death tolls. Some areas, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, will dry out and a greater occurrence of lightning strikes will set massive forest fires. The charring of the Earth by natural and man-made forest fires will dump additional quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Changes in temperature and rainfall brought on by global warming will in turn change the composition of the forests. At the present rate of destruction, most of the rain forests will be gone by the middle of the next century. This will allow man-made deserts to encroach on once lush areas. (Bassett 1-2).
Evaporation rates will also increase and circulation patterns will change. Decreased rainfall in some areas will results in increased rainfall in others. In some regions, river flow will be reduced or stopped all together completely. Other areas will experience sudden downpours that create massive floods. The central portions of the continents, which normally experience occasional droughts, might become permanently dry wastelands. Vast areas of once productive cropland could lose topsoil and become man-made deserts. Coastal regions, where half the human population lives, will feel the adverse effects of rising sea levels as the ice caps melt under rising ocean temperatures.
If the present melting continues, the sea could rise as much as 6 feet by the middle of the next century (Bassett 1-2). Large tracks of coastal land would disappear, as would shallow barrier islands and coral reefs. Low-lying fertile deltas that support millions of people would vanish. Delicate wetlands, where many species of marine life hatch their young, would be reclaimed by the sea. Vulnerable coastal cities would have to move farther inland or build protective walls against the angry sea, where a larger number of extremely dangerous hurricanes would prowl the ocean stretches.
Forests and other wildlife habitats might not have enough time to adjust to the rapidly changing climate. The warming will rearrange entire biological communities and cause many species to become extinct. Weeds and pests could overrun much of the landscape. Since life controls the climate to some extent, it is uncertain what long-term effects a diminished biosphere will have on the world as a whole. It is becoming more apparent, however, that as man continues to squander the Earth’s resources, the climate could change in such a way that it is no longer benevolent to mankind. The greenhouse effect and global warming both correspond with each other. The green house effect is recalled as incoming solar radiation that passes through the Earth’s atmosphere but prevents much of the outgoing infrared radiation from escaping into outer space. The global warming refers to a long term rise in the average temperature of the Earth. How do they correspond with each other? Simply, because without one, the other doesn’t exist. The natural greenhouse effect has kept the Earth’s average surface temperature around 33 degrees Celsius, warmer than it would be if there were no atmosphere. The natural gases in the greenhouse effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), as well as other trace gases.
Life could not exist if there was no natural greenhouse effect. The reason for the natural greenhouse effect is so that all the creatures living on Earth can live and breathe. We as inhabitants of this Earth must do our part in preserving it, or there won’t be much left for our children to live on. Human activities are causing some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide to build up in the atmosphere. Each time we burn gasoline, oil, coal, or even natural gas, more carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere (Erandson 34). By cutting down the forest trees, we allow air pollution to set in. This, therefore, causes many problems in addition to many others. Now that there are no trees to help filter out pollution, we are allowing more damage to the atmosphere causing global warming. These certain gases that occur naturally in the atmosphere tend to trap the sun’s heat which is called global warming. By trapping in the sun’s heat, the Earth can be warmed up. Many of the Earth’s natural disasters, such as volcanic activity, and other factors, have caused our planet’s (Bates 23) atmosphere to become either colder or warmer. The global average temperature of the surface has increased by one degree Fahrenheit over the past century. This indicates that this warming trend is due to human influences.
In conclusion, if there was no greenhouse effect then there would be no global warming. The greenhouse effect causes the global warming to increase as well as humans and other creatures influence. There are many ways to help prevent and protect both. If people try to help out, then it would be a longer process to keep the ozone layer healthy longer. But, nothing will be done until we as humans start helping out.
The Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect occurs when gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and CFCs trap heat in the atmosphere by acting as a pane of glass in a car. �The glass� lets the sun light in to make heat but when the heat tries to get out the gases absorb the heat. Holding this heat in causes heat waves, droughts and climate changes which could alter our way of living.
The main gases that cause the greenhouse effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane which comes mainly from animal manure. Other gases like nitrogen oxide and man made gases called chloroflurocarbons get caught in the atmosphere as well. The decay of animals and respiration are two main but natural sources of carbon dioxide.
In my opinion we people of the whole world should try and slow down the emmission of greenhouse gases and/or find ways to balance the gases so the climate doesn't change so rapidly. If it did we would be forced to adapt to the new climate that we brought upon our selves. If we had a international cooperation to put a damper on the production of chloroflurocarbons and slowed down the use of fossil fuels it would dramatically slow down the process of "global warming."
Over the last 100 years the global temperatures have been increasing slowly but steadily. Since 1980 the temperature has risen 0.2 degrees C (0.4 degrees F ) each decade. Scientists predict that if we continue putting the same amount of gas into the atmosphere by the year 2030 the temperature will be rising as much as 0.5 degrees C (0.9 degrees F ) or more per decade. Over all the global temperature could rise anywhere from 5 to 9 degrees over the next fifty years. If the temperatures do rise as predicted several things could happen. The increases of temperature could alter the growth of crops in areas near the equator due to insufficient rain and heat. This could really hurt countries that rely on imported food. With the high temperatures the polar ice caps could melt and cause the sea water level to go up 1 to 3 feet. This increase could take out small islands, coastal cities and some shallow rivers. The Everglades in Florida would be almost if not totally wiped right off the map. The Everglades is the home for many animals and plant life. If it did get flooded, they would all have to move northward across very dry land which they will not be able to endure for very long. When the hot temperatures do spread southward and northward, tropical disease will spread with it. Disease that were down in Mexico will maybe occur in The Carolinas or eventually Vermont. These new diseases will be hard to deal with causing many more deaths and illnesses than before. The financial problem with this is, that the flooding will cause dams to be built and cities to be reconstructed. The shortage of food will cause the price of the food to go up and with all the diseases we will need more medical supplies and workers. All of this combined could and will cost a lot of money if we don't do something about it now.
The computer models can�t predict exactly what the climate is going to be in the future, but they can come close to what it will be like down the road. Scientists proved this by predicting with computers what the climate was in the past. Then by looking back in records, they found that the predictions were close to being right.
The "Topex" (Topographic Experiment) satellite has been collecting information on the changes of the sea level, and temperatures across the globe and the amount of gases emitted into the atmosphere. Each day the satellite makes 500,000 measurements, each at a different place on the earth. Measurements are all made between 66 degrees north and south latitudes.1
The Cretaceous occurred over 100 million years ago. It was the warmest period we have knowledge of yet. There was so much carbon dioxide in the air that the oceans rose many meters. North America was flooded and split apart into two pieces. The temperature then was more than fifteen degrees greater than the average temperature today. Scientists believe that the tilt of the earth's axis changes to tilt the opposite way every 10,000 years like a cycle. While going through this cycle it will change the climate of areas. Right now it is moving so that North America is going to be close to the sun in the winter. Seasons become more extreme when the opposite happens. This controls the cycle of ice ages. Volcanoes when they erupt, send clouds of dust into the air blocking sunlight. This would cool the earth off more. Oceans are known to absorb CO2 because of the ocean currents and the action of plankton. There is some evidence that there is naturally rapid climate change between each Ice Age, which confuses the whole global warming and idea.
I think every human being should take part in the fight to stop global warming. The government is the key to this and they better do something soon or it will be too late. First, the American government should sponsor a meeting between the nations of this world. They should establish a committee for handling the money, politics, and scientific research in order to help cut back the emission of gases into the atmosphere. Every country will contribute by donating money. Each country would be required to give 0.01 of their GNP to this committee. If they refuse they will be boycotted and nothing will be sold to them by the participating countries.
Global warming is a big threat to our nation and the world. If we do not act now, it may be too late. Of course, there is no sure way of telling if there actually is a greenhouse effect, but let�s not take any chances. Look at what is happening to this world, and you will see that there is a pollution problem. There are steps being taken at this moment to reduce the gases put into the air but it still isn't enough. We need to cut back more by taking a few easy steps. Plant a tree, or take a bus to work instead of driving your own car. Those things may not seem like a lot, but if more and more people do it, it will make a difference.