The Day After Tomorrow: Remediating Global Warming Essay

In the last 100 years, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, causing the Earth to warm by an average of 0.6 degrees celsius, largely a result of burning fossil fuels for energy, transportation, and land use changes increased for food production. The basic science is straightforward and climate researchers have shown that gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and others can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. Human activities such as industry, transport, energy generation and deforestation all produce these greenhouse gases. In the last 20 years, concern has grown that global warming is inevitable and now considered most probably caused by man-made increases in

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

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 Warming has silently crept into our society today because of big business, lack of technology, and greed. And now with a new generation of citizens who understand what we have been doing to our earth have to stand up and do what is right. Global Warming refers to the increase in the earth’s average temperature induced by human activity. Most discussions on Global Warming today show similarities between an increase in global temperature and the increase in carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. Human activity increases the amount of these gases in the atmosphere and, as a result of the greenhouse effect, increases

Presently, while Scientists are warning us about the deleterious effects of Global Warming, “Nonscientists” also have separate views on the same issue. This indicates that Global Warming is a controversial issue that needs to be addressed. First, we need to understand the concept of “Global Warming.” Global Warming is described as the general increase in atmospheric temperatures worldwide, which results to climate changes. According to an article titled “Global Warming,” the earth’s atmosphere contains various gases that act as a blanket to trap heat from the sun and prevent it from escaping back into space. This means that these gases prevent the earth from being cold. This continued process is known as the greenhouse effect, and the gasses that are responsible for maintaining this heat are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. They continued, “Over time, the amount of greenhouse gases trapped in the earth’s atmosphere has increased significantly, causing worldwide temperatures to rise.” Human activities like industrialization and agriculture also play a significant role in increasing these gases. For example, the use of certain fertilizers, produce nitrous oxide and methane emissions come from the production of fossil fuels from landfills, and from livestock, they emphasized. All these evidence illustrates that we are significantly responsible for recent increases in temperatures. For this reason, it is obvious that it is a pressing human issue. This recent dramatic

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

Global warming is a controversial topic, widely discussed among today’s society. It is significant because it deals with the opinions and beliefs of many individuals. It also creates controversy and provides society with the opportunity to express itself and its beliefs. Many people believe that the conditions of the climate have no correlation to human behavior and that nowadays, people exaggerate the impacts of climate change. However, these individuals fail to recognize the truth behind the topic. Global warming is both a real and serious threat to our existence that humans must address by altering their actions and behaviors.

“During the 20th century the Earth’s surface and lowest part of the atmosphere warmed up on average by approximately 0.6°C”, (Tolan and Berzon, 2005:91). Alongside this, man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, which also include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased. This is primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels for energy, transportation and land use changes including; deforestation for agriculture. “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels”, (Royal Society, 2010:1, cited in Joffe and Nicholas, 2013:17).

What do you think government’s role should be in reducing energy consumption? Should there be government mandates or should the market decide?

Something which has never before been seen is happening now. The Earth 's atmosphere is warming more rapidly in the past 100 years than ever before. According to physicist Jennifer Burney (2013:54), the current warming trend being seen today has everything to do with the social and economic advances from the 19th century Industrial Revolution. During this time, fossil fuel use accelerated the changes we see today in agriculture, manufacturing, and power. For example, fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas supply most of the energy needed to fuel the cars we drive, and generate electricity for industries and households. Unfortunately, the burning of these fossil fuels puts too much carbon dioxide into the air. This in turn, increases the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causing our climate to become hotter. With that being said, there is a scientific consensus that climate change is occurring, and that human activities are the primary driver. Warming of the climate system is undisputable, and according to Dr. Michael Mann (2009:14), who holds joint positions in the Departments of Meteorology and Geosciences at Penn State, states that scientists are more than 90% positive that global warming is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. After rapid industrialization, the two primary causes of man-made global warming are the burning of fossil fuels and

What is global warming, and how is it affecting the Earth and its inhabitants? The greenhouse effect and global warming both correspond with each other. The green house effect is incoming solar radiation that passes through the Earth's atmosphere and heats the earths surface. It absorbed much of the outgoing infrared radiation re-radiated by the Earths surface. As they absorb the infrared the atmosphere becomes warmer. The gases key to this process are water vapor and carbon dioxide and methane. 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

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,

These gases “trap some of the reradiated heat, as they act as a partial blanket” for the planet (1). This process keeps the planet much warmer than it would be otherwise, allowing it to be habitable for humans. Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the early nineteenth century, humans have been emitting “billions of tons of extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing more and more heat to be trapped” (2). The primary greenhouse gas emitted by humans is CO2, mostly by coal-fired power plants. Carbon continues to accumulate in the atmosphere, with emissions today being “six times higher than they were in 1950” (2). This chain of events has caused the Earth to warm by 1.5° F (0.8° C). About 1° F of this warming has occurred since 1970, suggesting that the planet’s temperature will continue to increase more rapidly. This science is at the basis of climate change, and understanding this process is crucial in finding solutions.

Global warming, or climate change, is a subject that is not going to show signs of cooling down any time soon. Why is it happening, what is causing it and how is it going to change our planet. Unfortunately, the earth is showing many signs of worldwide climate change, and based on the work of thousands of scientists in more than 130 countries, the prognosis is that humans have caused all or most of the planetary warming. Pollution, deforestation, and industrialization have significantly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane; which are all greenhouse gases, and they trap heat near the earth’s surface. Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the air faster than the planets and the ocean can absorb it. Historically, scientists studied climate and recognized that natural cycles in the earth’s orbit can alter the planets exposure to the sun, and warming and cooling cycles have occurred over hundreds and thousands of years due to these shifts. These changes occurred over several centuries and the changes that are occurring now have been measured over the past hundred years or less. This has raised a global concern for the future of our planet because many species are facing extinction from disappearing habitats, changing ecosystems and acidifying oceans.

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.