Global Warming and Climate Change

Fossil Fuels & Global Warming: How are they Related? - 1  Carbon Dioxide: A Greenhouse Gas  The presence of high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results in an increase in the amount of heat on the surface of Earth. This is because carbon dioxide traps heat obtained from sunlight and does not let it dissipate out of the atmosphere, a process known as green house effect.. Since fossil fuels are hydrocarbons(made from hydrogen and carbon), burning fossil fuels releases a large amount of carbon dioxide into the air. Toxic Gases Causing Acid Rain Combustion of fossil fuels not only emits carbon dioxide into the air, it also releases other gases like carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, etc that cause air pollution. When in air, these gases dissolve in water(in form of clouds) and convert into harmful acids like sulfuric acid and carbonic acid. These chemicals return to the surface of the earth in the form of acid rain, which has a huge impact o...

Fossil Fuels & Global Warming: How are they Related? Coal, oil and natural gas are the three different forms of fossil fuels that are widely used. They are formed by the process of anaerobic decomposition of organic matter under the surface of the earth for millions of years. Large-scale use of fossil fuels started since the Industrial Revolution. Today, these are the most widely used sources of energy available for the use of both personal as well as commercial purposes. Petroleum is used to fuel our vehicles, while coat and natural gas are used to produce electricity for our homes and offices. Almost three-fourth of the demands of the energy in the world is fulfilled by fossil fuels. Higher Seas Rise in sea level can adversely affect the climate of the earth. It is believed that there will be drastic changes in the weather conditions in various parts of the world. The glaciers of the earth will melt at a much faster pace. As a result, the areas which are loca...

Deforestation: A Cause of Global Warming That Goes Unnoticed The rise in the average temperature of our planet is bound to cause the sea level to increase. Global warming has already begun to cause the melting of glaciers and of the ice at the poles, thus adding to the rise in sea level. This phenomenon is a serious threat to the life on Earth and it is we who need to take the right measures to prevent this damage. It is believed that the use of fossil fuels and the burning oil gas causes global warming. It is true that pollution caused by the burning of oil and gas and the release of pollutants causes global warming. But research has revealed that deforestation is one of its major causes. It is the main reason behind the rise in the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to the greenhouse effect. Extreme weather conditions, changing agricultural yields, and increase in the disease vectors are some of the other effects of global warming. Deforestation, b...

Deforestation increases the Earth's temperature Deforestation results in an increase in CO2 and other green house gases, which increases the Earth's temperature Trees plays a vital role in the equilibrium of the ecosystem. Deforestation is a process of cutting trees to make space for industries and households of the ever increasing human population. Excessive cutting of trees for urban use and other purposes are harmful to the environmental balance. It is needless to say that deforestation has several adverse effects on the environment. One of the major disadvantage of deforestation is that it disrupts the water cycle. Trees are responsible for drawing up water from the soil and releasing moisture into the atmosphere. Deforestation causes a disturbance in the water cycle and makes the environment drier. Climate change is a severe outcome of the excessive cutting down of trees. Forests lock up atmospheric carbon during the process of photosynthesis. Trees contain a m...

Deforestation What is Deforestation? Deforestation is when humans remove or clear large areas of forest lands and related ecosystems for non-forest use. These clearing for farming purpose, ranching and urban use. In these cases, trees are never re-planted. It is any activity directed to forests resources, with the intention of using the trees or land created for other purposes. Trees may be cut down for logs or burned to make room for farms, construction or other economic purposes. Why do humans clear forest? High demand for wood More need for pulp and paper, wood for furniture, real estate construction fuel all mean that trees will be cut down. World population is growing and more than ever before, our needs have increased too. Animal grazing fields In many places in the world, animal farms have contributed to large areas as green space being converted to grazing fields. Classic cases can be found in Brazil. Animal rearing in the Amazon has increased remarkable o...

What causes global warming? Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants and greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally, this radiation would escape into space—but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. That's what's known as the greenhouse effect. the burning of fossil fuels to make electricity is the largest source of heat-trapping pollution, producing about two billion tons of CO2 every year. Coal-burning power plants are by far the biggest polluters. The country’s second-largest source of carbon pollution is the transportation sector, which generates about 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions a year. Reducing the amount of electricity generated from coal and gas and increasing the amount of electricity from clean, renewable energy sources like solar and wind, mea...

GLOBAL WARMING Global warming refers to the rise in surface temperature of the earth due to the green house effect created by green house gases. Global warming is a big environmental and social issue all over the world which everyone must know especially our kids and children as they are the future. Global warming is a major atmospheric issue all over the world. Our earth's surface becoming hot day by day by trapping the sun's heat and rise in the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The bad effects of it increasing day by day and causing major problems to the living of human being. It has become one of the subjects of big social issue which need social awareness to a great level. People should know its meaning, causes, effects and solution to solve it immediately. People should come forth together and try to solve it in order to save life on the earth. Rise in the carbon dioxide level is the use fossil fuels like coal and oil, deforestation, by the human beings ...

UNPRECEDENTE D WARMING Earth's surface has undergone unprecedented (uncommon) warming over the last century, and especially in this century. Every single year since 1977 has been warmer than the 20th century average, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001, and 2016 being the warmest year on recorded history.  As any farmer can tell, the natural patterns of climate have been altered. We know that warming-and cooling-has happened in the past, and long before humans were around. Many factors(called "climate drivers") can influence Earth's climate-such as changes in the sun's intensity and volcanic eruptions, as well as heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. But, what's causing today's unprecedented warming - are humans part of the cause? Today's warming is primarily caused by humans putting too much carbon in the atmosphere, like when we choose to extract and burn coal, oil, and gas, or cut down and burn forests.

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE What is the most important cause of climate change? Human activity is the main cause of climate change. People burn fossil fuels and convert land from forests to agriculture. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, people have burned more and more fossil fuels and changed vast areas of land from forests to farmlands. Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. It is called a greenhouse gas because it produces a "green house effect". The greenhouse effect makes the earth warmer, just as a greenhouse is warmer than its surroundings. Carbon dioxide is the main cause of human-induced climate change. It stays in the atmosphere for a very long time. Other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide, stay in the atmosphere for a long time. Other substances only produce short-term effects. Not all substances produce warming. Some, like certain aerosols, can produce cooling.

Earth's temperature is a balancing act Earth's temperature depends on the balance between energy entering and leaving the planet's system. when incoming energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth system, Earth warms. When the sun's energy is reflected back into space, Earth avoids warming. When absorbed energy is released back into space, Earth  cools. Many factors, both natural and human, can cause changes in Earth's energy balance:  including - Variations in the sun's energy reaching Earth Changes in the reflectivity of Earth’s atmosphere and surface Changes in the greenhouse effect, which affects the amount of heat retained by Earth’s atmosphere These factors have caused Earth's climate to change many times. Recent climate changes, however, cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, it is extremely...

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE Aerosols Aerosols are less well-known than greenhouse gases. Aerosols are dust particles which, in addition to CO2, are released into the atmosphere in large quantities when wood and fossil fuels are burned. Some aerosols have a cooling effect on the climate, others have a warming effect. On balance they have a cooling rather than a warming effect, but no-one can give a clear idea of the magnitude, because we still do not understand how aerosols influence the occurrence and characteristics of clouds. Natural phenomena, greenhouse gases and aerosols create an imbalance in the incoming and outgoing radiation in the atmosphere. This process is known as Radiative forcing. When the earth heats-up, the short-wave radiation from the sun that enters the atmosphere is greater than the long-waves radiation that exists the atmosphere. The temperature changes on Earth will not stop until the radiation balance is restored. Given the immense capacity of ocean...

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE CO2 AND CLIMATE CHANGE The most well-known and the most important greenhouse gas is CO2. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is subject to variation even without human intervention. The carbon cycle causes an exchange of CO2 between the biosphere and the oceans on the one hand and the atmosphere on the other. Vast amounts of CO2 are also released by the burning of fossil fuels. there is incontrovertible evidence that the CO2 concentration in the air has never been so high in 8,00,000 years(probably even 60 million years) as it is now. The trend suggests that CO2 emissions will continue to rise globally, although the economic crisis did prevent a rise in 2009.  Besides CO2, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2o), fluorinated gases, ozone (O3) and water vapour are important greenhouse gases. Water vapour plays a unique role as it strengthens the heat-trapping effect caused by other greenhouse gas emissions. This is beca...

CLIMATE CHANGE WHAT IS IT? Climate change is a change in the distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time. Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather within the context of longer-term average conditions. Climate change is caused by factors such as Biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth and Volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of ongoing climate change, often referred to as Global warming. The term "climate change" is often used to refer specifically to anthropogenic climate change(also known as global warming). Anthropogenic climate change is caused by human activitiy, as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of earth's natural process. Climate change, also called global warming, refers to the rise in average surface temperatures on Earth. An overwhelming scientific...