Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and Solutions
Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and Solutions.
Global Warming is the rise in the average temperature of Earth 's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Many people do not see this as a problem. However, it is currently a huge issue that is often talked about among scientists and many other people. Global Warming is caused by many different things. Greenhouse gases, deforestation, and solar activity are three different proven facts that cause global warming. Global warming is not something that is going to disappear; it is only going to get worse if people do not start doing something about it. The main cause of global warming is the burning of greenhouse gases. Some of the main gases are: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and the loss of forests. Most of the harmful gasses are emitted by humans through the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories, and electricity production. But why and how do these specific gases cause global warming, it is because all of these gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. A molecule of methane produces more than 20 times the warming of a molecule of CO2. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful than CO2. Other gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer), have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2. But because their concentrations are much lower than CO2, none of these gases adds as much warmth to the atmosphere as CO2 does. Trees provide an important ecosystem function by storing carbon, a cause of climate change, in their biomass. Currently the world’s forests store 283 billion tons of carbon in their biomass. Half the world’s tropical forests have been cleared or degraded. Every hour, at least 4,500 acres of forest fall to chain saws, machetes, flames, or bulldozers. In 2012 three million hectares of mature forests were cut down. This is a causing effect to
Global Warming is the rise in the average temperature of Earth 's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Many people do not see this as a problem. However, it is currently a huge issue that is often talked about among scientists and many other people. Global Warming is caused by many different things. Greenhouse gases, deforestation, and solar activity are three different proven facts that cause global warming. Global warming is not something that is going to disappear; it is only going to get worse if people do not start doing something about it. The main cause of global warming is the burning of greenhouse gases. Some of the main gases are: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and the loss of forests. Most of the harmful gasses are emitted by humans through the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories, and electricity production. But why and how do these specific gases cause global warming, it is because all of these gases have very different heat-trapping abilities. A molecule of methane produces more than 20 times the warming of a molecule of CO2. Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful than CO2. Other gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (which have been banned in much of the world because they also degrade the ozone layer), have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2. But because their concentrations are much lower than CO2, none of these gases adds as much warmth to the atmosphere as CO2 does. Trees provide an important ecosystem function by storing carbon, a cause of climate change, in their biomass. Currently the world’s forests store 283 billion tons of carbon in their biomass. Half the world’s tropical forests have been cleared or degraded. Every hour, at least 4,500 acres of forest fall to chain saws, machetes, flames, or bulldozers. In 2012 three million hectares of mature forests were cut down. This is a causing effect to
Cited: 1. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-solutions 2. http://www.facingthefuture.org 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming#Solar_activity Video: 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZJmX73FF4