There are many other causes. One of them is methane. It's a very powerful green house gas. Methane is lighter than air, colourless and this gas that animals burp; and poop out is odourless.
However meat production, sewage treatment plants and landfills generate additional methane.
Methane is 23 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 100-year period.
A huge 30% of methane emissions that are released into the earth's atmosphere come from agriculture. The majority of this comes from the result of the digestive system of animals such as cows and arguably you can say that this is natural, however when you think of the amount of animals such as cows that are bread for purposes such as killing for meat you will find there are large concentrations of these animals in places and thus larger amounts of methane emitted than through natural breeding. There is also the decomposition of manure as this also produces methane in environments that are low in oxygen.
(The graph shows that the amount of methane increased in the past years. This means that more green house gases are produced and because of that the world gets warmer because the gases can not go out to spance through the atmosphere.)
When you think about ocean pollution you will automatically think of waste dumped into them by humans, however this is not the only source of pollution that you will find the earth's oceans. Each ocean has to support vast range of ecosystems and as with any ecosystem waste is produced and this waste contributes to natural global warming causes.
“The [IPCC] report clearly states that humans are mostly to blame global warming. Natural Factors play a very minor role.”
[Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a lead author of the Fourth World Climate Report]
It says clearly that humans has largely to blame for climate warming.
Source: Myself. I learned from him in my old school in germany. Stefan Rahmstorf is german as well.
Chapter 4 – The effects of global warming
There are many effects of global warming. I'll show you three of them: higher average global temperature , rising sea levels and Retreat of glaciers.
Lets start with the raised temperature:
The elevated temperature is in my opinion the biggest problem because it provoked almost everything on global warming. Whether the extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels. The farmers noticed the increased temperature. They had made in recent years not a good harvest. They begin to ask questions to themselves:
- What does the government ?
- How we continue our existence ?
These are not small effects as opposed to what is to come if humanity doesn't change anything.
What about the rising sea levels ?
They are triggered by the warm temperatures. The poles have very much ice. If this ice melts it becomes water. Because of the temperature - is far - much ice at the poles melted, and when large amounts of ice melt then it raises the water table.
Prof Stefan Rahmstorf, said the findings backed up estimates by the group in 2009 that the sea level would rise by 75- 190cm between 1990 and 2100.
Scientists have found out trough fossils, that the sea level rises faster than at any time in the past 2,100 years.
It is at least one fact, that some places have become smaller on many islands like the beaches. The sand is at times highly degraded, so that often sand bags to use, to stop the "waves" a little bit.
2001: St. Mark's Square attracts the biggest crowds in one of the world's most popular tourist cities, Venice.
Now: High water. Venice has always been at risk of flooding , but man-made changes to the lagoon, and rising global sea levels, have greatly increased the danger.
Book: Earth – Then and Now – Potent Visual evidence of our changing world. Fred Pearce, Foreword by Zac Goldsmith. Page: 44-45
My last topic of this chapter is about the retreat of glaciers. This happens also because the high temperatures.
Worldwide, glaciers are melting. Whether in the Alps, in the Arctic, the Antarctic and in Africa. Where once-powerful tongues of ice pushed into the valleys, cover today in many places, only rubble and debris of the ground. But the ice giants have one enemy: the man-made climate change. According the latest Greenpeace study the glaciers are shrinking faster and faster. According to a study by NASA in 2005 was the year with the highest average temperature for 100 years. The five warmest years since the beginning of the temperature record are in the last decade.
Especially threatening: the mountain and polar regions warm more than other areas. The effects of glacier melt are dramatic floods, ... associated with landslides and mudflows. Long-term threat of water scarcity, because three-quarters of all fresh water resources are tied up in glaciers. The Swiss glaciers retreated in just two years back up to 150 meters.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40881000/gif/_40881964_glacier_mass_gra203.gif
Chapter 5 – What protects the global warming against a drastic increase ?
I want to keep this chapter short, because it just goes into their roots in the detailed information when I write fully whith much information.
There are many things to protect the earth from a global catastrophe. The most important is that the we have understood, that they have to change something.
There are now more solar plants, wind turbines and hydroelectric plants built. For our earth to be recovering.
The problem is e.g. the wind turbines do not produce as much energy as far from a coal-fired power plant. It is used very much money to put down as many wind turbines that can replace a power plant. Which means: spend more money for the safety of earth, or a less money to destroy the earth in about 100 years.
Often, when environmental and climate issues will be discussed, the danger is that ozone hole and global warming are mixed together. The fact is: The ozone hole is not a direct consequence of global warming, global warming is a direct consequence of the ozone hole.
However, since almost everything is connected in the climate system, there are also links here.
The ozone hole protects the earth from irradiation. It protects us from the ultraviolet rays of sun which hits the earth. It protects us also against infra red radiation.
The sun emits radiation in all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, about 7% in the ultraviolet, 41% in visible and 52% in the infra red.
Chapter 6 – Is it man made ?
Over the last hundred years the Earth has been warming. This warming is believed to lead to many issues such as drought, weather extremes and famine. The man made global warming theory states that man made CO2 is causing Earth to warm at an alarming rate; thus, the warming will continue. While some scientists believe CO2 is the culprit, other scientists believe the world’s warming and cooling happens in cycles due to various factors. Some of these scientists believe that Earth is starting a cooling trend after a long warming trend. Therefore, the trillion dollar question is global warming caused by CO2 or is this Earth’s natural cycle?
Carbon dioxide is the gas that is responsible for global warming under the man made global warming theory. CO2 is also a part of everyday life. Therefore, this gas should not be confused with smog, which creates a low level ozone layer that can be harmful to humans. CO2 is less than 2% of the world’s atmosphere. Meanwhile 93% of all CO2 is stored in the world’s oceans; the rest is stored the biosphere in things like plants. Oceans move CO2 into the atmosphere and then remove it as continual cycle. Warmer waters, like tropical waters, store less CO2 than colder Arctic or deep waters. As CO2 increases in the Earth’s atmosphere, the oceans work harder to remove it. CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have increased 30% since the pre-industrial era. The ocean has also increased its absorption of CO2 from roughly 2.0 Pg of CO2 in the 1980s to 2.4 Pg in the 1990s. Along with the oceans increased CO2 absorption, plants and trees also take in more CO2. This extra absorption of CO2 increases crop yields and plant growth.
The question arises if man is increasing the CO2 significantly or if the oceans are naturally warming and releasing more CO2 as a part of a cycle? Unfortunately, most graphs shown in news articles only go back 120 years, starting in the 1880s. One glance at these graphs and a person could easily deduce that man and industrialization has caused global warming. Many seem to forget that the last ice age was over 100,000 years ago, so looking at the last 120 years for temperature change seems inadequate. Archeologists have found cities under the oceans, such as the one in India that is 9500 years old. This indicates that the Earth must have been warming for some time, possibly including many warming and cooling cycles. Going back 2000 years paints a better picture than the 120 year "hockey stick" graph. In the Middle Ages the temperature deviation was the same as today. This period did not have industry that created man made CO2.
Another interesting fact is that even though man made CO2 has exponentially increasing from 1950 to today, temperature from 1940 to 1980 decreased. Scientists back in the 1970s believed that pollution was causing global cooling. The real problem is that any model based off a lower point, like 1880s temperature, would make the model appear that the earth is on fire. Instead of using incomplete models, models need to include a couple of temperature cycles to fully understand how the Earth behaves.
At least 70-80% of the Earth’s warming effect comes from water vapor and clouds not CO2. CO2 traps about 10-20% of the world’s heat. Other contributors to warming include high altitude cirrus clouds and sunspots. Cirrus clouds block radiant heat from escaping the Earth’s atmosphere. Sunspots have been known throughout history to have an effect on the Earth’s temperature. From 1645 to 1715 there were very few sunspots recorded. This also was a period referred to as the little ice age. Over the last 60 years, our sun has been very active with a record number of sun spots recorded. This could also be the reason that ice caps on Mars are melting and other planets in our solar system are experiencing warming, like Jupiter.
By studying models that are more inclusive, scientists are now worried about the warming trend reversing. The Antarctic Ice Sheet is growing at a record pace. The media seems to focus on just the Wilkins ice sheet, which is only 0.01% of Antarctica’s ice cover. The rest of the ice cover is returning 60% faster than last year at 4.0 square km. Even Greenland is seeing a 15 year high in ice levels between Canada and itself. In the US this spring has been much cooler than normal for most of the country. These events are leading more and more scientists to believe the Earth is in for a cooling trend. If global cooling occurs, agricultural life could change as we know it. This could lead to a worldwide food shortage and a displacement of millions of people.
Currently, the United States Congress is debating a potential five trillion dollar energy policy. This policy will place carbon caps on corporations. This will raise cost of energy significantly. Money raised from these caps would be redistributed to more expensive renewable energy projects. The poor will suffer the most as they will have to contend with rising food prices, rising gas prices and now rising energy costs. With so many factors causing global warming, the anti- CO2 movement seems very reckless and will cause many people to suffer.
Fighting emissions from cars and factories is a very noble cause. Pollution can cause all sorts of problems like asthma. To say the world is warming because of humans is a very bold claim. Lots of factors go into warming the Earth. To focus on just one, CO2 is very native. It can also be very dangerous as it sacrifices our economic stability and standard of living. Doubling the price of gasoline over the last few years has caused food costs to shoot up; fishermen and truckers to be put out of business; and many low income people to suffer. Now, Congress is debating to do the same thing to electricity prices.
References:
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Chapter 7 – What happens if ….....
First of all we are going to answer the question 'what are the effects of global warming?', by providing you with a list of these. Global warming is an issue that can and will effect people in every corner of the world. Some people may wonder whether all of the effects of global warming are negative because they live in a region that has seen warmer weather throughout usually colder times of the year, well for them this may not be so bad but there are millions of people in other areas who are experiencing drought and famine for the very same reason.
What happens melting of the polar icecaps increases?
With the polar icecaps melting this will leave species that currently live there homeless, or all battling it out to live off what is left there, it will be survival of the fittest but the obvious global warming effect here is that many will be forced to die out.
One of the most tragic effects of global warming from the melting of the polar icecaps is the fact that it is accelerating the process as a whole. The reason for this is that the color of the snowy and icy landscape there is white, when the sun shines down on this color it is reflected back out through the atmosphere, preventing the earth from being warmed even further. Without this huge white land mass we are left with either land or ocean water that are both darker in color and will absorb the sunlight instead of reflecting it. This has the opposite effect and will enhance the warming of the earth.
What if the sea level rises ?
This global warming effect is a result of the polar icecaps melting. It is a fact that the sea levels have been rising and that the mass of the polar icecaps has significantly reduced over the last century. I think everyone knows what happens when the sea level rises. Many famous main towns lie on the ocean as e.g. New York and Karachi. There are huge costs due to damages The people flee from these locations and then have to seek new places to live, which means that the land area is smaller and give it a more human territory.
Potential Effect of Rising Sea Level on Florida
Peoples and animals will die. Global warming means the temperature across the world is rising. In the UK temperatures at the end of October 2011 were two to three times higher than the average. This may seem like a nice predicament to be in for the people there, however in other places in the world such as Thailand mass flooding has occurred, in the Sudan there are droughts and heatwaves leading to famine. Serious droughts and heat waves are destroying land and exhausting food and water supplies, which mean that neither animals or people are able to survive in the most deprived areas of the world.
Chapter 8 - Conclusion & recommendation
This was a great experience. I learned many things about global warming, e.g. Coal is the number one source in USA, to make electricity.
In my opinion, if we all don't do anything to stop it, then the earth well be changed.
Carbone dioxide und methane gases increases earths temperature. We have to watch out.
We can reduce the problems of global warming by doing many things like planting a lot of trees and recycling the objects. Let’s start with recycling. When we were in the schools, the teachers usedto tell us about recycling our used staffs like toys and books. At first, I thought that recycling mean tothrow the old objects. But later, I had a general back ground about how important is this word to our earth. There are many ways to recycle the old subjects, and there are special ways to recycle each subject.
For instance
, we can recycle papers in special way that is different than glass material and the plastic material. According to
we can help our environment by buying products with the smallest packages, and that will help to trim down the waste. Itseems to be an easy job. All you have to do is to recycle the staffs that you really don’t need instead of throwing it in the pin. The other way that we can reduce global warming problems is planting a lot of trees. Did you know that one tree can absorb nearly 1 ton of CO2 during its life time. In conclusion, the global warming is a serious problem that can lead to climate changing anddesertification; however we can deal with it by planting trees and recycling. I believe that the human aether responsible of this problem. So they must all agree in a possible way to solve it before the bad consequences happen!!!
Also I have some recommendations:
- Pay attention when shopping to buy English products. This not only saves CO2 emissions due to shorter transport routes, but also promotes the British economy.
- The water tap while brushing your teeth do not run. This saves electricity, water and money.
- Turns off your TV, audio systems, printers, etc. when not in use all over. Many people simply leave the device in standby mode. This will still consume electricity
Chapter 9 – Bibliography
(Realiable Source because the Cambridge University supports the website.)
(A reliable source because it's a newspaper website. The report is examined to its correctness.)
(I have checked on other websites, what the composition of the greenhouse effect is. That what you see on the image is correct)
(This is a reliable source because there are many facts. By the way, WWF is a charity dependent upon its five million supporters worldwide - some 90 per cent of our income derives from voluntary sources such as people and the business community.)
WWF's panda logo is recognised worldwide as a symbol of conservation and sustainable development.
More information at
(This source is 100% reliable. It's from the Nasa. )
More information at
(This is not a good source, because on this website can everybody write something without some evidences.)
(This picture source is biased. The website does not tell much about itself and not where they have the information.)
(Greenpeace is a charity like WWF. The Source is reliable. Also because they indicated where they themselves have the information.)
(This is a government website. So it is reliable.)
( is a site supported by the government. The states are tested and true.)
(This source is absoluetly reliably, because it's sponsored by the .)
(This picture source is reliable, because The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at from the .)
(This source is biased, because i can't find on this page any information where they got this stuff.)
(This is a reliable source.)
(The delta farm press does not tell much of themselves. They do not show where they have the information. Except on their website under "about us" are only 2 sentences. Therefore I think that the source is not trustworthy.)
(A reliable source because it's a newspaper website. The report is examined to its correctness.)
(This picture source is biased, as it don't tell about the source.)
Book: Earth – Then and Now – Potent Visual evidence of our changing world. Fred Pearce, Foreword by Zac Goldsmith. Page: 44-45
(This is a reliable source because it's a published source.)
(Greenpeace is a charity like WWF. The Source is reliable. Also because they indicated where they themselves have the information. The source it is based on facts.)
(A reliable source, because it's based on facts. More than, it is a goverment website.)
(A reliable source, because of their reputation over many decades. It's the same reputation that The New york times newspaper has. Both are not perfect, but they are conscientious in trying to be honest and factual.)
(The source is reliable. They tell about themselves in the rubric “about us”. The website is internationally known as the top destination on the Internet on ozone related issues. The Ozone Hole website won a Montreal Protocol 20th Anniversary Public Awareness Award from The United Nations on September 16,2007.)
(Reliable. It's an government website. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency)
(This source i biased, because it has no information. It's just based on assumptions)
I've found a great website. Here you can see what happens if the sea level rises 1m, 2m, 5m, 20m …...
(I don't think that this Source is realiable because it doesn't tell about facts.)
