Over the recent years, global warming has become a hot topic, due to the melting of polar ice caps and extreme temperature changes across the globe. Since 1960, the percentage of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has increased by 20%, which is the highest recorded in 800,000 years. The true question though is whether this is due to natural causes or whether it’s the impact humans have on the earth’s delicate ecosystem.
The main signs that global warming is currently affecting our world is the rapid temperature changes in certain areas causing wild weather such as tropical storms and floods. Sea levels are rising as an effect of melting of the polar icecaps which are effectively increasing the levels of water in our oceans and rivers. There is no doubt that global warming is currently happening on our precious planet, but there are many that argue it is the environments natural lifecycle rather than a contribution to greenhouse gases that humans have caused recently.
Although there are many biological factors that could affect the process of global warming, it can be argued that humans are the primary cause. The amount of waste produced by humans each year has increased due to our rapidly growing population, which pollutes our natural environment with waste products such as plastic bags, bottles or even metal cans. Because of our dumping of waste into our countrysides, it is debatable that dumping is another main polluter that releases carbon dioxide into our precious
Global warming is one of the most tumultuous topics in today’s society. Some believe it is happening as we speak, while others question its very existence, So, is it real, or is merely a hoax? There is no one answer, but evidence does overwhelmingly support the former. Surely we have all heard this word at one time or another, but few individuals actually know its true definition. Justifiably, however, global warming is not that simply explained. In layman’s terms, it is the dramatic increase in the Earth’s average air and ocean temperature since the 20th century. This increase is primarily attributed to two main culprits: the greenhouse effect and human activity, such as fossil fuel burning. In both cases, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the
The rapidly increasing amount of carbon dioxide may be one of the factors that cause climate change. As Hillman states, “Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are increasing, and have done so since the Industrial Revolution.” An atmospheric CO2 concentration, research shows that there is a dramatic increase from 280 parts per million (ppm) in 1750 to 373 ppm in 2002, a rise of the third. Furthermore, the linear chart demonstrated the trend of annual global CO2
Does the high level of Carbon Dioxide (C02) possibly harm the Earth’s planetary biosphere, or has it already done so; in fact, many worldwide scientists have protested that the Earth is at its ‘tipping point’ but no efforts have been adapted to save the biosphere? A support of this controversial topic; congressional meeting and testimony, is from one of the top U.S. climate scientists, James Hansen to Former Vice President Al Gore, with an emphasis on the cause of C02. Beyond the ozone layer is atmospherically holey, Earth’s temperature is rising, and the climate changing conversely, one that people trivialized the most is: Global warming. Increasingly, subject to concern not only via online discussion, magazine and
Global warming and climate change attributed to increased emission of greenhouse gases have continued to be pressing issues in today’s society since they threaten the stability of the climate, population, and economy of the world (“Meeting the Energy Challenge”, 2007). The challenges associated with global warming and climate change is attributed to the fact that 75 percent of world’s carbon dioxide
Global climate change has become an undeniable and unavoidable reality. In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international body that provides the most comprehensive reports dealing with the science of climate change, has established that warming of the climate system is ‘unequivocal’. Additionally, it concludes that human activities such as land clearing and burning of fossil fuels have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to unprecedented levels (IPCC 2013).
Over the last several decades, climate change has evolved from a polarizing discussion to what will likely be the largest collaborative research project of our generation. While many aspects of climate change are still misunderstood, there is little debate that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising at an alarming rate. This rise is considered the main cause behind an increase in global temperature, which has set in motion a chain reaction of climatic events.
Exploitive human actions damage the earth. Human’s daily habits cause rising temperatures from carbon dioxide emissions. The excessive use of coal, oil, and natural gas leads to more carbon dioxide emissions, which traps more heat causing the temperature to rise (Friedman 32). For example, in the last 100 years, scientists measured an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from 280ppm to 400ppm (124). Based on research conducted by NOAA, temperature and the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide have a strong correlation. Temperature rises as carbon dioxide rises. The growing population of the world leads to increased exponential resource consumption and growing levels of carbon
Climate change or colloquially known as global warming, now pose a new threat to civilization as the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) are soaring to new levels. The most significant contributor to greenhouse gasses would be Carbon Dioxide (Co2). The levels of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) gas have risen to levels civilization has not seen before. As such, the effects of these levels are not known to civilization as data gathered from the ice cores drilled in the Antarctica only shows data up to 650,000 years ago. However we can conclude that present CO2 concentrations are higher compared to any time in the last 650,000 years (IPCC 2007). Current carbon dioxide concentrations are hovering around 389 parts per million (ppm) as of September 2011,
Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a much faster rate than the rate at which plants and oceans can absorb it. Global warming is the increase in the overall temperature of the Earth 's atmosphere; global warming is a delicate topic because it is happening right now no one can stop it from happening. It is already transforming life on Earth, shifting the seasons, raising the temperature and rising the sea level. Other effects of global warming include stronger storms, extinction of species, rapid disappearance of Artic ice, and the increase of the ozone hole. It became an issue in 1988 when a scientist from NASA found that "Global warming has reached a level such that we can ascribe with a high degree of confidence a cause and effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and observed warming" (Hansen). James E. Hansen testimony was a big thing that everyone start to worry about it and everyone was talking about global warming because the media contribute to it. Global warming is a big thing happening right now but we don’t listen to others and we continue with our life’s without looking around us and without helping to stop the cause of it because as a humans we make errors during life but we learn from the errors and the bad choices. Although some people believe mankind is not responsible for global warming, it is a serious problem worldwide and measures are need to help slow the problem.
Today, atmospheric CO2 concentration has nearly increased by 25 percent, and the global temperature has risen by nearly 1.25 degrees as reported in 2014 (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2014), as part of a continuous rise since the 1800s. This may seem small but are having a huge effect on the Earth and causing global warming, and in turn, climate change. These changes are predominantly blamed on humans, through actions such as fossil fuel consumption, deforestation, and increased agricultural production and
Global warming has been a controversial topic for years and some have even denied its existence; however, as more studies are being published every day in regards to our changing climate, it is hard to ignore this growing issue and how humans contribute to it. The term greenhouse gases refers to the group of gases that are primarily responsible for global warming and chief among these gases is carbon dioxide. Rising carbon dioxide levels can be attributed to a combination of burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum as well as deforestation in general ( Source A). To slow the effects of global warming, it is important for leaders in our society to consider their greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, and make
Climate change is happening and it is happening quite rapidly all around the world. The earth is undoubtedly warming and over the past one hundred years, Earth’s average temperature has increased by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. (EPA 1) The big problem with the average temperature rising is that it can have a negative effect on the planet and potentially have dramatic shifts in the global climate. According to the EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet's oceans and glaciers have also experienced some big changes - oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are
Climate change is happening at an unpredictable rate. Our government needs to take steps to address this problem at once. One of the biggest dilemmas is the overproduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses. Due to the excessive production of these gases, Global warming is causing a heating effect on the atmosphere, and this could be very dangerous on human lives and their existence. “Global warming isn’t a prediction. It is happening.” (James Hansen) The startling proof we have is the comparison of past and current climate changes. These include a 0.74°C increase in the average global temperatures over the last 100 years, seas-level rise of over 40mm, significant shifts in the seasonality and intensities of precipitation, changing weather patterns and significant retreat of Arctic sea ice and nearly all of the continental glaciers. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 report states that the evidence for global warming is unequivocal and there is very high confidence that this warming is due to human activity. (Maslin 41).
The earth is a beautiful and extraordinary planet, but are we treating it right? For the past 20 decades, temperatures have been rising along with hundreds of factors contributing to it. Climate change concerns the public as they wonder if its occurring, how much has occurred in the modern era, what has caused it, what the effects will be if we don’t do anything about it and much more. Many people and scientist agree that mankind is the number one cause of climate change. Humans have influenced this by greenhouse gases, methane nitrous oxide.
The concept of global warming has become one of the most widely debated and controversial topics of our time. Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of humanity. However, it is only in the past few decades that research has revealed that humans have a significant influence on the climate as well. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. More importantly, an article titled "Global Warming" published in the New York Times shows that methane, a gas that is emitted from landfills, livestock and oil gas facilities,