What Does Global Warming Mean?

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 is the increase in the earth's temperature caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane) in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases prevent infrared radiation from escaping into space, and this greenhouse effect maintains the earth's warm temperature. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases, resulting from industry and the burning of fossil fuels, may result in rising global temperatures, causing coastal flooding and major climatic changes. According to the British Meteorological Office, 1995 was the warmest year on record and global temperatures continued to rise. A United Nations panel of scientists has predicted that if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, the average global temperature could rise by 1° to 3.5° C (1.8° to 6.3° F) by the year 2100.

Every year, almost 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by human activity. That is the equivalent of 107,700,000 jet airplanes being in the air at once! This harrowing figure is the main cause of global warming, and has been increasing for the last 50 years. Global warming is caused by the increase of greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide and methane primarily, in the earth's upper atmosphere directly caused by human burning of fossil fuels, industrial, farming, and deforestation activities. Global warming is defined as an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic

Global warming has become a world wide issue and an issue that is causing great controversy. It is an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution (Dictionary). Global warming is a natural process, but because of increase in certain activities this process is taking a faster and more dangerous route creating global problems. Global warming was first theorized in 1894 by Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier a French mathematician, who noticed the earth was gradually increasing in temperature. He came to the conclusion that the earth’s atmosphere was trapping solar radiation caused by the sun and reflecting this radiation back to

Global warming occurs when greenhouse gases (e.g CO2) collect in the atmosphere, trapping the heat or solar radiation that have bounced off the surface of the earth in the atmosphere, which then causes an increase in the Earth’s

Global warming can be defined more precisely by this quote: “Without the greenhouse effect, the planet would be too cold to support life. Over time, the amount of greenhouse gases trapped in Earth’s atmosphere has increased significantly, causing worldwide temperatures to rise” (“Global Warming and Climate Change”). The greenhouse effect traps heat throughout the globe; thus warming the world at an alarming rate. One type of greenhouse gas is methane. “Methane, for example, is a greenhouse gas that is twenty-one times as potent as carbon dioxide.” (“Global Warming and Climate Change”) Methane is more harmful to the environment because plants cannot absorb it and turn it into oxygen, plants can only absorb carbon dioxide.

Global Warming is an important ecological issue and has many negative effects upon our environment. Global Warming, or what has been called the Greenhouse effect, is the result of a fourfold ecological process. 1-Sunlight radiates from the sun, through space, to Earth’s atmosphere. 2- The sunlight enters the atmosphere and hits Earth. Some of it turns into heat energy in the form of infrared light. The heat gets absorbed by surrounding air and land, which in turn makes it warm. 3- Infrared rays, that are remitted into the atmosphere are trapped by greenhouse gases. 4- The gas then absorbs the light and is remitted back to the Earth’s surface and warms it even more. Left on it's own this natural process keeps our

Global warming is the global heating of the earth which as a result has melted parts of glaciers and in turn are raising the sea levels , as sea levels are rising cloud forests are dying and wildlife is struggling to keep up. This is all due to us as the human race , we are the sole reason that global warming exists as we have burnt up so much fossil fuels we have created an effect called the greenhouse effect which as it is named means that like a greenhouse gases are being trapped within our atmosphere and cannot escape which creates a heating effect which will eventually impact us greatly. These greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and other man made chemicals which we call CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons.

Global warming is a widespread problem that affects the entirety of our world. As Earth's temperature gradually increases , our environmental problems grow, and the hope of reversing the effects diminish. Everyday our Earth transforms sunlight into infrared light, which causes the habitable climate in which we live. Due to the abundance of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, infrared light becomes trapped, gradually increasing the Earth's overall temperature. Over billions of years the Earth has managed to retain relative levels of greenhouse gases, since the spread of human activity the levels of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons have significantly increased. Human related activities such as deforestation, combustions of fossil fuels, landfills, the use of fertilizers, etc. have all impacted our greenhouse gas levels. Of course, there are many natural sources, such as manure, decay of organic matter, fires, etc. but none of these sources have had as major of an effect as that of those related to mankind.

Global warming is the trend of continuing increases in the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. It has a parallel effect of climate change in our planet earth which will be disastrous to the health of the people and ecosystem if not reduced to a minimum level. One of the primary causes of global warming is the burning of coal which is the most carbon rich of all fossil fuels used to produce energy. As we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas for energy, carbon dioxide sips through the air and is lodged into the atmosphere thus creating a “greenhouse effect”. A “greenhouse effect” is created when more emissions of carbon dioxide cause the mass of greenhouse gases protecting the earth from the scorching heat of the sun to become thicker and as they envelop the earth, result in a warmer temperature. Even when the heat effects of volcanoes and other misleading weather phenomena that would make the temperature of the earth seem higher than it actually is are taken out of consideration, studies show that the surface temperature of the earth has been increasing at a rate of 0.17 degrees Celsius per decade [Haines et al., 1998]. These figures are not consistent with a natural trend, and, when one considers the tens of thousands of years in which humans have populated the earth, and that humans have really only started burning fossil fuels heavily since the

What is global warming? Global warming refers to extreme changes in the Earth’s climate. The term illustrates dramatic increases in atmospheric and water temperatures experienced as a result of growing amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Humans are responsible for producing these gases via cars, electricity, and factories. The main products of these activities that are to blame for global warming are methane and carbon dioxide; as carbon dioxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbon compounds go farther and farther into the Earth’s atmosphere, they deplete the ozone layer. Holes in the ozone are allowing harmful ultraviolet rays (that are usually deflected by the ozone layer) to make their way to lower levels of the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases absorb and give off radiation from the UV rays, contributing to extreme temperature conditions. Some of the effects. Global warming has had extreme effects on the planet. Earth’s average surface temperature has been increasing; since the 1880s, temperature has increased by between 1 and 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. While this may sound like a small number, it has heavily impacted other aspects of our global ecosystem, and it is continuing to rise at a faster rate. Arctic ice is vanishing and glaciers are melting; as a result, polar bears, penguins, and other animals have begun to suffer.

Global warming has many causes contributing to its rapid growth in the last few decades. “A NASA satellite has been mapping the changing amounts of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. In an image derived from data collected in October 2014, swirls of CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuels in the Northern Hemisphere are clearly visible” (National Geographic). This quote shows that the Northern Hemisphere is more polluted than the Southern Hemisphere, which shows a direct correlation of carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases in highly populated areas with many factories. Also, the other greenhouse gases such as water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide are becoming more and more common in the atmosphere. Many greenhouse gases are overlooked and people usually just classify it as Carbon Dioxide, but really there are other gases such as methane which is 84 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide. It is just less common. With all these gases in the atmosphere, they start to heat up the Earth. “Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation

The current changes in earth’s temperature are also a result of human expansion of industrial and technological contributions. “Since the industrial, revolution, numerous human activities have significantly altered atmospheric greenhouse gases. Unlike natural causes of global warming which are gradual, human causes are rapid and have the most damage.” (Shrivastava, 2007) The main gases which have influence are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons. “Different human actions trigger the balance or level of these gases in the atmosphere like flaming of fossil fuels (CO2), and mining (Methane) hence contributing to global warming by the destruction of natural/rain forests, increased industrial activity, agriculture, transportation, and housing. Since the 1980s, there has been an overwhelming increase in industrial processes and transportation which uses fossil fuels.” (Shrivastava, 2007)

One could explain Global warming by defining it as the warming of the Earth’s surface which results while the atmosphere of the Earth traps heat so the more rapidly humans create polluting industries and emitting fossil fuels we are responsible for. The earth is getting warmer. The changes are small, so far, but scientist are expecting this climate change to grow larger and speedup. Within the next fifty to one hundred years, the earth may heat more than it has in the last million years which is very concerning to human existence. As oceans warm and glaciers melt, land and cities along coasts may be flooded. Heat and drought factors like we have seen in recent years in California’s rapid rate of drought fires will occur in many areas around the world. One major cause of global warming is the

Global warming ' is one facet of the broader term 'climate change. It is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth 's surface air and oceans from the mid 20th century and the projected continuation. The Global warming is primarily the consequence of building up greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Emission rates for most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, CO2, have increased 120 fold in the past 140 years. While in the 19th century, emissions were mostly from deforestation and the other land use changes, now they are predominantly from burning fossil fuels. As CO2 in the atmosphere has the lifetime of more than a century, the historic emissions play the