Cause of Global Warming

GLOBAL WARMING 4

Causeof Global Warming

GlobalWarming

Globalwarming denotes an increase of the temperature of the earth’ssurface. The surface temperatures continue to increase more over theyears (Dincer, 2013). The effect of this increase in globaltemperatures is least felt along the equator and more towards thepolar regions of the earth. This is the topic of choice because it isan emerging issue and has become a matter of social justice sincemany people suffer from effects of global warming more than others.Greenhouse gasses, pollutants, and the natural cycle are the majorcauses of global warming. This paper discusses global warming and itscauses.

Causesof Global Warming

GreenhouseGases

Greenhousegasses such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and nitrousoxide which occur in the atmosphere are major sources of globalwarming. In their natural proportions, they are relatively harmless,but human activities that cause emissions have raised the greenhousegasses to unsustainable levels. Some of the human activities thatcontribute to global warming include deforestation, agriculture, andbiomass burning, industrial processes, transport services releasinggreenhouse gasses, burning fossil fuels and residential andcommercial activities.

Scientistsbegan studies on carbon dioxide levels in 1958, and since then, thelevels in the atmosphere have risen by about 40% from 280 parts permillion to 400 parts per million (Dincer, 2013). The maincontributors of this increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide areburning fossil fuels and deforestation. When fossil fuels, forexample, coal is burnt, the state of stored carbon dioxide changes togas, and it is released in the atmosphere. Cutting down of trees thatwould otherwise absorb high levels of carbon dioxide also contributesto increase this gas in the atmosphere. Methane is less abundant inthe atmosphere as compared to carbon dioxide because it has a shorterlifespan (Dincer, 2013). However, it is more potent in effectcompared to carbon dioxide. Methane is released by ruminants duringdigestion and some human activities such as decomposing organicmatter and extracting natural gasses. Nitrous oxide comes as a resultof using fertilizers in agriculture and the burning of organic matterand fossils (Archer,2012). The amount of nitrous oxide in theatmosphere has risen up to 18% since the onset of industrialevolution. Water vapor occurs abundantly as a greenhouse gas in theatmosphere. Human activities though do not have a significant role toplay in the production of water vapor, contribute to emissions thatpromote high atmospheric temperatures and therefore, water vapor.

AirPollutants

Airpollution happens when greenhouse gasses are released into theenvironment. This happens when a gas like carbon dioxide is releasedinto the environment, and the atmosphere traps heat from the sun.This is common when such gases are emitted during industrialproduction of goods. Gasses are also released during burning offossil fuels, for instance, oil, coal, and gasoline. Burning fossilfuels releases soot, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and nitrogen oxide tothe environment, thereby contributing to air pollution andeventually, global warming.

NaturalCycle

Thenatural cycle is the natural process that involves heating up theearth’s surface and eventually cooling with no influence from humanactivities (Archer,2012). With the natural cycle, carbon dioxide lagsbehind in producing the earth’s warming effect in what is commonlyknown as Milankovitch effect.

References

Archer,D. (2012). Global warming: understanding the forecast. Hoboken, NJ:Wiley.

Dincer,I. (2013). Causes, impacts, and solutions to global warming. NewYork: Springer New York.