Global Warming Essay Research Paper

Global Warming Essay, Research Paper

Global Warming may not be on the tip of everyone’s tongue, nor in the foremost part of

their minds. In fact, Global Warming may not even exist. Yet its consideration is worth the

taking since it could have profound impacts on the Earth, the only planetary home humans

possess.

Global Warming is, by the EPA definition, the progressive gradual rise of the earth s

surface temperature thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in

global climate patters the term is most often used to refer to the warming predicted to occur as a

result of increased emissions of greenhouse gasses. This is not used synonymously with concept of

the Greenhouse Effect, the natural process that has kept the Earth s temperature about 59 degrees

F warmer than it would otherwise be. Current life on Earth could not be sustained without the

natural greenhouse effect. The natural Greenhouse Effect is not an environmental concern,

whereas an Enhanced Greenhouse Effect, the increase of greenhouse gas concentrations from

anthropogenic activities, and Global Warming are considered to be.

While scientists still debate on whether Global Warming is an actual occurrence, there is

evidence of a warming trend in the Earth s climate. Records show a sharp increase in temperature

mean over the past decade, which is part of an upward slope beginning from the Industrial

Revolution. The melting at the polar icecaps shows further indication of an over-all warmer

climate. The thickness of the Arctic polar cap alone “declined by 4.3 feet, or 40 percent, between

1958 and 1997″ (1 ). More recent weather appears to be more turbulent as well, with storm systems

such as El Nino and El Nina ravaging the Western Hemisphere. Though there are some global

signs as well, such as an increase in the cases of skin cancer. This is not only a health concern, but

shows that more of the harmful ultraviolet radiation pouring down on the Earth from the sun is

passing through the protective layers of the Earth s atmosphere, bringing an increase of heat that

will be expelled or trapped. Scientists believe Global Warming to be a likely cause for these

transpirations.

Although there are many who believe in Global Warming s existence and pertinence,

skeptics that disagree with this view maintain that the warmer temperatures are a result of a

natural cycle. Charts graphing temperature data well back into the history of the earth show a

previous increase in mean, global climate. Since there was no Industrial Revolution back then and

human activity did not exist, it would be incorrect to attribute the change in temperature to

man s interference. Events like the Ice Age and the Little Ice Age, the cooling of the climate by +

degrees Celsius in the years 1400 AD to 1860 AD, show that the Earth s climate entertains the

propensity for dynamic changes and trends, one of which it may be involved in now. Some

scientists theorize that the rise in temperature may even be a result of increased solar activity of

the sun.

Despite the argument on the validity of Global Warming, there is an agreement that an

ambiguous correlation exists between rising temperatures and concentrations of carbon dioxide in

the atmosphere. When the climate was warmer than in previous years, the concentration of this

gas, along with methane, increased as well, though science has not yet revealed if the amount of

carbon dioxide caused the elevated temperatures or vice versa. Yet, carbon dioxide remains the

culprit in many opinions. Its ability to trap heat close to the Earth’s surface due to its molecular

structure makes it a likely candidate. Especially since humans have been producing a larger

amount of it in the past couple of centuries. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, the demand

for and use of energy has crescendoed with a growing population, which requires more land to be

stripped of vegetation for settling. This deforestation for commercial and other reasons has only

added to the amount of carbon dioxide that remains in the atmosphere, since plants play a key role

in reducing the natural and man-produced concentrations.

Carbon dioxide alone is not affecting the atmosphere. There are a number of other gases

also believed to play a role in Global Warming. Of these, scientists are concerned most with

methane, which acts like carbon dioxide, by absorbing infrared radiation that would normally be

radiated back into space, and keeping it closer to the Earth’s surface. Other Greenhouse Gases,

those gases that absorb radiation and heat included water vapor, nitrous oxide, halogenated

fluorocarbons (HCFCs), ozone, perflourinated carbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocabons (HFCs), and

sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Some of these gases covet the incoming ultraviolet radiation from the

sun, while others work to trap what would normally be outgoing infrared radiation.

Yet another factor in the

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