Global Warming.

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Global Warming

Exercise five

Global warming is, “The gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere due to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFC’s and other pollutants” (The new oxford dictionary of English 2000). Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities. Once, all climate changes occurred naturally. However, during the Industrial Revolution, human activity released more gases into the atmosphere, and now through population growth, fossil fuel burning, and deforestation, we are affecting the mixture of gases in the atmosphere. This assignment will set out what global warming is, the impacts of global warming and what we can do to reduce the effects.

The greenhouse effect can be explained simply in figure one below.

(http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/emissions/index.html)

The Greenhouse effect is a natural process which warms the earth. Without the greenhouse effect average surface temperature would be -15 degrees Celsius rather than 15 degrees Celsius. Global warming is a term which is often used to refer to the effects of the accelerated green house effect. While the greenhouse effect is totally natural, since the industrial revolution the chemical make up of the atmosphere has changed. An increase in chemicals such as Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, nitrous oxide and CFC’s (carbofluorocarbons) has brought about this change. These chemicals all have heat trapping qualities retaining the solar radiation within the atmosphere so that it can not be radiated back into space. Often, it is misunderstood that global warming is a natural effect and that 97% of greenhouse gasses is water vapour found naturally in the environment. The final 3% are all man made chemicals and their intensity in increasing worrying scientists for years. “Although scientists had been concerned for years that the world might be destined for a warming caused by human activities, they had been unsure about how big this warming mite be, and how quickly it might set in; until the late 1980's, there was very little direct evidence that world wide temperatures were, in fact, rising” (Gribbin 1990) We now know temperatures are rising but we are still unsure of what the overall impact of global warming will be.

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Carbon dioxide comes from the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are needed to run cars, heat homes/businesses and power factories. Alternative sources of energy are always needed. Many countries have developed plants to utilise power from wind, wave, solar, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, ocean thermal energy, nuclear and biological energy sources. Despite the increase in alternative energy sources, fossil fuels are still widely used.

The impacts of global warming are varied throughout the planet. Worldwide temperature has risen an estimated 1 Degree Fahrenheit since the late 19th century. “For the earth on a whole, seven of the eight ...

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