Essay on Global Warming

“The Earth has cancer and the cancer is man.” This contentious quote was said by Mihaljo Mesarovic and Eduard Pestel, the two authors who wrote the book Mankind at a Turning Point. In this book Mihaljo and Eduard talk about how our actions as mankind are killing, spoiling, and taking for granted the Earth that we are given. Some people think that the heating of Earth is natural and is inevitable no matter what mankind has to do with it. Whether man is affecting the warmth of earth, or if it is just a natural ongoing process is an open-ended and continuous argument. Because of its reoccurring and destructive circumstances the Greenhouse Effect has become a dilemma that is being researched and worked against amongst the world.

Greenhouse gases are accumulating and the dominant cause seems to be the “fossil-fuel-based human economy” (Goodland 604). Greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere and fast; greenhouse gases include the release of carbon dioxide from burning coal, natural gas, and

The 19th as well as the 20th century have been the most prolific time periods in modern history as concerns science, technology and socio-economic development. Within these two centuries we witnessed the discovery of electricity, the invention of the engine which played a very important role in the maturity of the well-known industrial revolution. Through this revolution people began to live in a more decent and comfortable manner; new commodities were produced and entire new kinds of industry were developed. Although all these inventions, discoveries and scientific breakthroughs improved in an outstanding way our well-being, they also provided us with some troubles that scientists had never foreseen or even imagined.

NGS integrates greenhouse into other major policy initiatives, such as the Natural Heritage Trust, and launches new measures to increase greenhouse emission reduction activities across the Australian community. It provides the strategic framework for an effective greenhouse response and for meeting current and future international commitments. It will provide a fresh impetus for action by governments, stakeholder groups and the broader community and set directions for that action into the next century.

This fact suggests that human activity around the world is increasing the release of carbon dioxide (Worldwatch Institute 54). Since cars and trucks emit CO2 when they run, their use by humans has caused an increase in CO2 emissions. Another leading greenhouse gas is methane. Methane is produced in landfills by the decomposition of materials. Large farm animals and their waste also emit notable amounts of CO2. Since large farm animals are bread by humans for our own consumption, our habits of eating so much meat can be blamed for a large amount of CO2 emissions. Scientists are also concerned that climate change has caused a significant depletion in the ozone layer, which protects our planet. Emissions of greenhouse gasses cause the ozone to deplete which can also damage the earth.

Scientists attribute a huge percentage of the gas accumulation to the human activities using fossil fuels and whose operation leads to the release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other toxic gasses into the air. The rate of temperature rise since the industrial revolution shows a significant change of 38% due to the constant emission of toxic gasses from human activity (Lonnie, 153).

The Earth’s climate has continuously changed throughout history. Most of the time, these climate changes are attributed to small variations in Earth’s orbit, which in turn changes the amount of solar energy reflected onto the planet. However, according to NASA, the current warming trend is of such significance because “most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.” Essentially, what happens is that sunlight passes through the atmosphere and warms the Earth’s surface. This heat is radiated back towards space. Most of the outgoing heat is absorbed by greenhouse gas molecules and re-emitted in all directions, warming the surface of the Earth and the lower atmosphere. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, emit are increasingly emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

In recent years, the controversial subject of global warming has been more predominantly brought to our attention. Is the threat of global warming real? Is it man-made or is this just a natural cycle of earth? Does it really affect earth’s inhabitants? Should action be taken against it? If so, what kind and to what extent? It cannot be only a coincidence that the alarmingly rapid climate change coincides perfectly with the increased amount of pollutants that humans release into the environment. The once stable climate has in recent years begun to skyrocket, thus altering the delicate structure of earthly life. This proves to be hazardous to the future of the planet; some people worry that many of the resources the environment provides that

Global warming has been a growing concern for many over the last several decades. The effects of global warming are evident and broad, with historical research dating the first global warming crisis back 56 million years ago, better known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM (Jardine, 2011). Research from the composition of sediments of fossils shells of marine organisms conclude that carbon dioxide trapped within our atmosphere, increased global temperatures by more than 5 degrees in just a few thousand years (Jardine, 2011). While global warming may not be in question, many scientists have questioned the actual global warming effect theory due to

The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases –– primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed. Although uncertainty exists about exactly how earth’’s climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Go to the Emissions section for much more on greenhouse gases.

Though gasoline cars make lives of humans easier to travel, it threatens the environment. Climate is defined as weather conditions existing in a particular area over a period of time. When changes in weather patterns start to occur, this is called climate change. Peter Singer describes carbon emissions would extinguish human life. Climate change is a disastrous event because there is a wide range of environmental impacts affecting life expectancy. In different geographical areas, climates will change if temperatures influence them to fluctuate. The major cause of climate change is human expansion of the greenhouse effect. Kolbert presents scientific research about climate change and global warming leading to a global catastrophe. Any process that causes the Earth’s temperature to become imbalanced affects the climate. While climate change is a natural process, purchasing a SUV and doing human activities of all kinds has impacted on the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels for energy.

U.S. Conditions like Florida and other states with a high range of hot spells are perfect

The issue of global warming should be on the list of our top priorities. Studies show that the average of global temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution began. Since the Industrial Revolution, human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes and many scientists have warned that a failure to bring greenhouse gases under control could eventually lead to a 62-fold increase in extreme heat blasts (Gillis Justin A17). Most of the increase is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities contribute to a build-up in carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere is made of gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. These gases act as a blanket that covers and gives us warmth, but once these gases such as carbon dioxide absorbs heat, but does not release it back into space in which causes the increase in global temperature. This is called the greenhouse effect because it only traps heat but does not release it.

The burning of fossil fuels produces around 21.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, but it is estimated that natural processes can only absorb about half of that amount, so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year (one ton of atmospheric carbon is equivalent to 44/12 or 3.7 tons of carbon dioxide) (No Fossil Fuels). Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that enhances radiative forcing and contributes to global warming, causing the average surface temperature of the Earth to rise in response (Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy ), which most climate scientists agree will cause major adverse effects. Carbon dioxide emissions create a thick cloud of gas (the green house effect) which traps other gases from escaping into space and is maintained in the atmosphere. It allows solar radiation to penetrate through the atmosphere and is trapped into the earth, which causes the warming of the earth. The amount of carbon dioxide emitted from human activities has caused many to become concerned. In 2005, global atmospheric concentrations of CO2 were 35% higher than they were before the Industrial Revolution (Greenhouse Gas Emissions).

Imagine you are placed into the future. The year is 2100. You begin to live in this