Causes and Effects of Climate Change Throughout the middle of the twentieth century, until now, there has been debate over the existence of climate change. Climate change is the increase of the earth’s inclusive temperature of the atmosphere, and the side effects caused by rising temperatures. Climate change is caused by many reasons: burning of fossil fuels, agriculture, landfills, and deforestation. Climate change is mainly caused by greenhouse gases and humans. The effects of climate change are detrimental to the earth; the effects have led to stronger and more intense hurricanes, a rise in temperature, and the melting of glaciers(“Global”). Greenhouse gases are the main causes of climate change. The sun emits sunlight that travels to earth, causing it to warm up the surface, and then the heat is radiated back towards space. This normal cycle is interrupted by greenhouse gases that stop the heat from bouncing back into space(“Global”). The gases absorb the heat and emit it back everywhere on earth. Because the gases are causing the temperature to rise, it is known as the greenhouse effect. Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect are nitrous oxide(N2O), methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide(CO2)(“Overview”).
The burning or combustion of fossil fuels increases the amount of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere(“Global”). Because the impact of one pound of N2O is three hundred times greater than a pound of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide causes more damage to the atmosphere
Climate change is evident throughout the world and is a major issue. It is no secret that our planet is getting warmer. Global warming is now recognized in the scientific community as a real problem. There are multiple aspects that are causing this issue. Majority of the warming is caused by greenhouse gases. Volcanic eruptions and changes in the intensity of solar radiation have offset the warming partially. It is estimated that average annual temperatures will increase 3.5°F-9.5°F by the century’s end.
The greenhouse effect, warming that occurs whenever the atmosphere traps heat from Earth towards space, is the main cause of global warming (NASA, 2016). Gases such as water vapor, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane do not respond chemically to drastic changes in temperature, force climate change. One of the reasons for this is because of the deforestation of land for agriculture or industrial needs has increased concentration of green house gases.
In the world today, global warming and climate change are one of the main issues with the earth. This issue affects everyone and everything in this world, and even though it seems to be a big problem, most people do not seem to care. The most familiar term is global warming and climate change, but greenhouse gases is one of the main causes and is never mentioned. Greenhouse gases are gases that absorb and emit radiation in the atmosphere, hence makes the earth warmer. The importance of this knowledge of greenhouse gases is so the world will know one of the main causes of global warming and climate change and possibly some
These gasses trap warmth and reason the planet to warm through a procedure called the greenhouse effect. Since 1751 around 337 billion metric huge amounts of CO2 have been discharged into the climate from the using of fossil fills and concrete generation, expanding air CO2 from the pre-mechanical level of around 280 ppm (parts per million), to a high of 400 ppm in 2013. Methane, which is expanding in the climate because of farming and fossil fuel use, traps 84 times as much warmth as CO2 for the initial 20 years it is in the environment, and is in charge of around one-fifth of a dangerous atmospheric climate change since 1750. Nitrous oxide, fundamentally discharged through farming practices, traps 300 times as much warmth as CO2. Over the twentieth century, as the convergences of CO2, CH4, and NO2 expanded in the air, the earth warmed by pretty nearly 1.4°.
Green house gases are gases that cause Earth’s atmosphere to increasingly get warmer as human activity continues to increase due to our reliance on living an industrial lifestyle (National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society n.d). With human contribution, such as the constant burning of fossil fuels our society needs to survive, forces our atmosphere to absorb additional gases and heat creating a warmer climate (National Academy of
An increase in Greenhouse gases is the main cause of climate change. Greenhouse gases are gases like methane, CO2, or water vapor, that absorbs the heat from the sun, and
Climate change occurs when weather patterns change continuously for an extended period of time. This leads to an increase in the global temperature, also known as global warming. When solar radiation is reflected back to space, a tiny amount of it is captured by a layer of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and many more. Carbon dioxide is the main contributor to the greenhouse effect. This is due to the heavy burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and volcanic eruptions.
Certain gases released into the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Gases that remain semi-permanently in the atmosphere and do not undergo physical or chemical changes in response to temperature are described as “forcing” climate change while those gases that respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are termed “feedbacks” (National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2016). Known gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect (global warming) include water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). As water vapor (the most abundant greenhouse gas) increases, the Earth’s atmosphere warms and the possibility of clouds and precipitation increases too. Nitrous oxide is produced by soil cultivation practices especially through the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel burning, nitric acid production and biomass burning. It is a powerful greenhouse gas. Methane is produced through natural sources and human activities. Some of which include the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture and ruminant digestion and manure management. Carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration, and volcanic activities and through human activities such as deforestation, fossil fuel burning, and land use changes. Studies have shown that humans have
Climate change is the term used to describe the warming of the average surface temperature on earth. Climate change; often referred to as the general term global warming, is a topic that often inspires fierce debate among those on both sides of the issue. One thing those who are pro and those that are con both agree on is that the temperature on earth has increased over the past century by an average of 1.4 degrees. The big debate on the two sides is if the warming temperatures are caused by human activities and if it is not stopped it will have dire consequences (the pro side) or if it is the result of natural causes and the earth’s surface will find ways to adapt such as crops becoming more heat resistant (the con side).
Climate change has been a pertinent issue in the media as of the past decade. With much debate on its severity, some simply believe that it is the result of alternating weather patterns. Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claims that global warming “has been driven by human activity,” continuing on to say that its existence is “unequivocal” (sciencemag). As most scientific research suggests, it is evident that climate change is negatively affecting the planet through global warming due to a diminishing Ozone layer, rising sea levels as a result of thermal expansion and melting polar ice caps, and a declining quality of life for humans and animals caused by
One of the main reasons that earth’s temperatures are rising are due to greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are created when humans burn fossil fuels such as coals, natural gases, and oils to produce heat or electricity. These gases are then capable of trapping infrared radiation sent by the sun. Once these
The primary cause of climate change is the human expansion of the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural occurrence, which NASA defines as “the warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from space” (NASA). During the greenhouse effect, heat from the sun passes through the atmosphere, which is made up of various gases. When the heat from the sun reaches the surface, some of it radiates away from Earth, back into space. However, some of the gases in the atmosphere, known as greenhouse gases, absorb this heat, preventing it from escaping (World Meteorological Organization). The greenhouse effect keeps the Earth at a habitable temperature. The World Meteorological Organization, or WMO, states that the greenhouse effect and
As reported in the 2014 NCA, “Only with the inclusion of human influences can models reproduce the observed temperature changes.” Over approximately the past 100 years, the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gasoline, and coal has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. CO2 is the chemical result of the burning process which occurs when carbon is introduced into oxygen. To a lesser degree,
industrial age. These high concentrations are predicted to continue in the atmosphere for thousands of years to come. This increase in specially carbon dioxide, increases the
Greenhouse gases are compounds in the atmosphere that can trap and hold extra heat, which increases the temperature in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases is the cause of the greenhouse effect that leads up to global warming. The greenhouse effect is the trapping of the sun’s warmth in the lower atmosphere that is due to the visible radiation from the sun. The solar radiation reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, then the rest of the sun's energy is absorbed by the oceans and lands which result in the heating of the Earth. After that the heat from the Earth goes towards space, some of the heat is trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouses gases which make the Earth warm enough to tolerate living life. The burning of fossil fuels and land clearing start to increase the number of greenhouse gases which travels into the atmosphere. The result of trapping extra heat cause the Earth’s temperature to rise. Scientist's has proven that the constant increase of heat in the atmosphere is caused by humans. The reason humans are proven guilty for the increase of global warming is because of the amount of carbon that is put into the atmosphere. Carbon is released from burning coal, oil, and gas or cutting down and burning forests. Carbon (CO2) is known as the main source of heat-trapping gas which is mainly responsible for the increase of warming over the years. The removal of trees is another cause of global