Global Warming Update Essay Research Paper Studies

Global Warming Update Essay, Research Paper

Studies made in the Earth.s temperature, reveal that the temperature is getting warmer. Industrialized countries and environmentalists say that it is time to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. The average global temperature has risen about one degree Fahrenheit since the turn of the century. A small rise could wreak destruction throughout the world. [ CQ Researcher, Global Warming Update. 291]

The greenhouse effect can be explained by scientists of NASA in this way:

A: Sunlight radiates from the sun, through space, to earth.s atmosphere.

B: The sunlight enters the atmosphere and hits the earth. At the same time, air and land gets heated.

C: Infrared rays, that are emitted into the atmosphere get trapped by the greenhouse gasses.

D: When the infrared light tries to leave the atmosphere, some of it gets absorbed by the greenhouse gases and is remitted back to the earth; from which earth keeps itself warm enough for human habitation. Some of the naturally occurring gases in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide and methane. Humans have added more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossils fuels for power, transportation, and producing mass quantities of goods in factories. Humans have also added two more unnatural greenhouse gases; Nitrous oxide and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs.) [Internet Site]

There are several and important causes that increase the Earth.s temperature. Earth.s protective layer is losing ozone much faster than anyone had predicted, exposing humans to higher amounts of harmful radiation. Chlorine monoxide is a derivative of an important family of synthetic chemicals that is known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFSs). Which has enjoyed wide use for decades as coolants in refrigerators, air conditioners ,and propellants in aerosol spray cans. Once CFSs are released to the atmosphere, they drift upward until they reach the ozone layer. When they reach the ozone layer which is located in the stratosphere, intense ultraviolet radiation breaks the CFCs molecule structure apart, producing chlorine monoxide that produce series of reactions that destroy ozone.Greenhouse gas emissions levels vary widely among nations.[CQ Researcher, Ozone Depletion. 293] Per capita emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels range from 5.3 tons in the US to 2.4 tons in Japan and 0.2 tons in India.[Climate of Hope 32] .…Chlorine, from Chlorofluorocarbons released from industrial uses and refrigerants into the troposphere, is leaking into the stratosphere, causing depletion of the ozone layer. Researchers using data from the Upper Atmosphere Research Mission (UARS), found chlorofluorocarbons in the stratosphere and the worldwide buildup of stratospheric fluorine gases corresponding to the breakdown of the chlorofluorocarbons. The detection of stratospheric fluorine gases, which are not natural, eliminates the possibility that chlorine from volcanic eruptions or some other natural source, is responsible for the ozone hole.. [USA Today. 23A]

Strong concentration of CFCs in the South Pole, causes circular winds known as the .Polar Vortex., which sweeps the destructive gases from the surrounding atmosphere into a wide funnel over Antarctica, where they remain isolated during the dark and frigid winter months.[Geology and the Environment 299]

Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is thought to disrupt photosynthesis, the process by which green plants use the sun.s radiant energy to produce carbohydrates. Studies project that a 10 percent increase in UV penetration, would cause up to a 9 percent increase in the incidence of the more deadly malignant melanoma among light-skinned people; the group that is most vulnerable to this violent form of cancer. There are preliminary reports of widespread blindness among rabbits, sheep, horses and cattle in southern Chile, where high UV radiation exposure resulted from the ozone hole over Antarctica.[CQ Researcher, Ozone Depletion. 293]

Once the equilibrium is broken in between man and nature the catastrophic effects of a small rise in the Earth.s temperature, can be noticed by man year after year and there is no turning back.

One effect of Global Warming would be drought. When the temperature rises, water evaporates quicker. In some places, it doesn.t rain much during the

year and the plant life depends on water from lakes and rivers. When the weather gets hotter, the water in that area evaporates and a drought occurs. The plant life would then die and there would be less plants to take carbon dioxide out of the air. This would make crops die and hunger or thirst would overtake many unfortunate people.[Internet Site]

Sea levels would rise and the effects that the world would face are catastrophic. The reason for this is because the ice caps and glaciers would melt, as a result from higher global temperature. A more important factor, however, is the expansion of sea water that results from an increase in temperature. Rising levels mean, among other things, that shorelines throughout the world will change and permanently inundate wetlands and lowlands. Bangladesh and Egypt, for example, would be among the nations most vulnerable to the rise in sea level. Up to twenty percent of the land in Bangladesh could be flooded with a 2 meter rise in a sea level. A thirty centimeter rise in sea level would result in b