Global Warming as It Is - Essay Example

Running head: Global Warming Global Warming [Writer’s Name] [Institution’s Name] Abstract This paper explores the factors that lead to global warming thereby establishing link with the motions of the sun as a cause to global warming. The increase in earth's temperature is known as global warming. A general belief is that it is caused by the green house effect. However, it is argued that global warming is in fact a result of the motions of the Sun. Scientists have inquired into the rate at which the Earth has been heating up and the way this warming may impact upon the crops and the weather. This paper also examines the various current patterns that very obviously indicate how global warming has been affecting the Earth; sea levels are rising, the ice caps have been seen to melt, and there are other major global climatic changes. The temperature on the Earth is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit more than what it would have been had there not been any atmospheric blanket of greenhouse gases surrounding it. Since the last couple of years it has been seen that the world temperature has risen by around 0.6 ± 0.2 °C. Since the last 1-2 thousand years the temperature was quite constant, with several (probably regional) changes; for instance the Medieval Warm Period or the Little Ice Age. Global Warming Introduction Scientists have proven that clouds and greenhouse gases keep the earth warm. As soon as the earth gets warm the portion of the carbon dioxide gets high in amount and the ratio of the oxygen decreases, due to this the warming of our planet starts. It is this radiation which causes atmospheric gases to move back to earth that scientists call the "greenhouse effect". For the rest of the increment Carbon dioxide is being made by the human beings by the burning of the fossil fuels and other activities. Other gases (CFCs, methane, nitrous oxide, troposphere ozone) are responsible .increase in the burning of the fossil fuels is due to the excessive growth of the population. Other gases (CFCs, methane, nitrous oxide, troposphere ozone) are responsible the last century, and increased industrial expansion. The power of the man’s brain has enables us to enjoy the new technology, Technology is partly responsible for explosive population growth and responsible for the resulting damage to Earth's resources. Factors Leading to Global Warming Climate change is a natural process and it is also continuous. The cause behind climate change is the changes in solar emissions. Since hundreds of thousands of years there is a variation within narrow of 4 degree temperature range. The variation causes both "warm periods," like we are now living in, and "cold periods" accompanied by ice ages, which periodically destroy most life on earth. Increased carbon dioxide actually results in a good impact upon the environment. The issue on March 27 civil defense perspective explains the timber in 1990 than in 1950 it was due to the increase in carbon dioxide. As the oil and gas fuels are frequently used there is a great increase in the population growth and industrial revolution. A great link is being seen in global warming and over population, as increases in carbon dioxide levels follows growth in population. A great role is being played by the trees in the cycle of global carbon cycle. They can be called the largest natural system that works for the removal of carbon dioxide from the air. When trees are burnt it is being removed by the oceans and ocean organisms the carbon is being locked up in the structure and is released into the air in the form of carbon dioxide. The common issue of today is the world forests are getting decreased. The carbon dioxide created by human beings while burning fossil fuels and we should deal with this as soon as possible as we are running out of the time. Planting more trees and reduce cuttings of trees will help restoring oxygen and we should look up to the ways to reduce world greenhouse gas emission .methane gas is the next cause of the global warming. Through natural and manmade emissions and other causes the methane gas is released up in the atmosphere. The main origins of methane are wetlands, (which include agriculture), termites, the ocean and the hydrates. The non-organic releases are based from the biomass landfills, livestock, waste treatment burning. The earth has the ability to absorb around 97% of the methane released into the air but 3% of the remaining is a serious problem. The molecular structure of methane is such that it has twenty times more power than carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas. The most potent problem is water; a great deal of less methane to contend with the carbon dioxide it is considers the largest link in the global warming. How global warming is being caused by the water. a set of parameter of water vapors are present in atmosphere. This vapor absorbs and radiates heat as does every molecule in the air does but when the lower atmosphere (troposphere) gets excess water vapor that gaseous containing H2O which is a potent greenhouse gas. Nitrous oxide is the common place for the green house gas. It helps to make your car go faster it has some beneficial uses. Nitrous oxide is also released from the cars that make use of catalytic converters, fertilizer plants, production of nylon and nitric acid. Carbon dioxide is a pollutant. This is not true. Nitrogen forms 80% of our atmosphere. With 100% nitrogen we can’t live at all. Carbon dioxide cannot be termed as a pollutant gas just like nitrogen cannot be. CO2 is essential to life on earth. As an increased intake of carbon dioxide it is necessary for the plants  intake as a result for more trees and plants to grow rapidly. Regrettably, the Canadian Government has included carbon dioxide in the list of extremely poisonous substances (that was made by the Environmental Protection Act). Motions of the Sun and Global Warming The theory of manmade global warming has gathered considerable opposition in the scientific community among experts in the field. The myth is promoted by liberals seeking. The government is taking control over the production and use of energy in order to make changes in economy. There has been an ongoing debate regarding the link between solar activity and global warming (Benestad, 2006). The concept that cosmic rays are responsible for the creation of a global cloud cover does not seem to be having any solid evidence; even the greatest approximations of cloud cover variation that the cosmic ray flux causes predicts that the impact would be extremely small. Now scientists from UK have entered into this controversy and started giving scientific proof for the view that no such connection exists between global warming, cosmic rays and solar activity. Ian O’Neill explains in his article “There is No Sun-Link with Global Warming” (2008) the connection between solar activity and global warming. He says that the sun goes through great alterations in the energy output the whole 11-year solar cycle. At its peak, the Sun's impact over local space is the greatest. It has a great magnetic field which has the ability of enveloping the Earth and spiral into interplanetary space. When this happens, the great and large scale solar wind would be deflecting high energy cosmic rays. Therefore, counter-intuitively, at the time of the Sun being having the extreme activity, the cosmic ray collisions with the atmosphere is the least. Prediction has been made by various scientists (such as Henrik Sven Mark at the Danish National Space Center), that such high energy cosmic rays can have an effect upon the Earth’s atmosphere, can lead to a creation of drops of water, therefore bringing about cloud cover. Thus, if we follow this logic, we can make out that there should be an international decrease in the cloud cover when there is high solar activity (Woodbridge, 2004) (which is when the cosmic rays are not being deflected due to solar wind), which leads to global warming (since there are lesser clouds now for reflecting solar radiation). Several of the climatic troubles which we face currently should be attributed to the sun rather than to human activities. Permafrost is a sold structure of frozen soil, and it extends to a depth of 2.2 feet in certain regions of the Arctic and sub Arctic. This structure has grasses, roots, sticks; most of all this is more than 30,000 years old. Around one quarter of the land regions of the Northern Hemisphere have this structure, the permafrost. Such a soil has the characteristic of having had its temperature at 32 degree Fahrenheit for a minimum of two years. Permafrost is under 85% of Alaska’s land region and most of Canada, Scandinavia and Siberia. In it is around 14% of the world’s carbon. This hard permafrost has been used for building homes and other buildings upon, and due to the increase in temperature, this can become a softer substance and can result in subsidence plus destruction of those buildings, electric generating stations, pipelines and other structures. Due to the instable ground there can be erosion, the terrain can be affected and also the slopes, roads and foundations. Svein Tveitdal is the Managing Director of the Global Resource Information Database (GRID) in Arundel, Norway, a UNEP environmental information center. He had the responsibility to monitor the melt of permafrost. At a meeting in 2001 he is reported to have said: "Permafrost has acted as a carbon sink, locking away carbon and other greenhouse gases like methane, for thousands of year. But there is now evidence that this is no longer the case, and the permafrost in some areas is starting to give back its carbon. This could accelerate the greenhouse effect" (UNEP, 2001). Discussion We hereby face the problem of conflicting results published by research groups regarding cosmic ray impact upon the produce of cloud. The UK scientists have given very definitive results in this field and it was concluded that the Sun/cosmic-ray theory has no measurable effect on the climate change we are currently experiencing. If we notice, we would see that the majority, in fact almost all, of the actions address the using of energy. That is because the principal greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, is primarily emitted by several of our routine activities use of our cars (which burn gasoline or diesel fuel); use of electricity (which is largely generated by burning coal and natural gas); the heating of our homes (usually via electricity, natural gas, or home heating oil). Reduction in the amount of energy used – and therefore the usage of fossil fuels – means that there is a reduction in the personal emissions of greenhouse gases. The probable impacts of global warming are quite worrying. A recent announcement made by the United Nations’ Environmental Program is that up till now, 2005 has been termed as the most expensive year and the reason behind this is severe weather throughout the world (The Independent, 2005). It is the belief of certain scientists that if we do not attempt at lowering global warming in the coming years we will not be able to do anything later on. This is due to a certain tipping point. There is a point at which there have been so much of greenhouse gases that it would be impossible for humans to get rid of them, and the resultant warming would be continuous and no efforts would stop it. There is the concept of lag time, which is the duration between a greenhouse gas being put into the atmosphere and when it starts causing warming. When humans start experiencing such dangerous results of warming, it might have become very late for stopping the warming – the tipping point might have passed. References Benestad, R. E. (2006). Solar activity and earth's climate. Birkhäuser. O'Neill, I. (2008) There is No Sun-Link with Global Warming, Retrieved October 15, 2009, from http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/03/there-is-no-sun-link-with-global-warming/ The Independent. (2005). The worst weather ever? At $200bn, it's certainly the costliest. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worst-weather-ever-at-200bn-its-certainly-the-costliest-518474.html UNCEP. (2001). Melting Permafrost may accelerate Global Warming, UNEP Scientists Warn. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=192&ArticleID=2763 Woodbridge, R. M. (2004). The next world war: tribes, cities, nations and ecological decline. University of Toronto Press. Read More