Climate change is a big deal these days, with everyone, including large businesses, trying to put in an effort to go “green”. 1. Factory farming, by many surveys and experiments, has been considered to be the number one cause of global climate change. 2. Factory farming is responsible for about 18% of greenhouse gases emitted.
“Their influence is known as the greenhouse gases, which are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and water vapor”(“American Meteorological Society 2007”). These gases mixes with the sun ultraviolet rays, disburse into the earth atmosphere with harmful results. Carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is one way the human activities effects the environment. Carbon dioxide from the exhaust of cars in heavily polluted cities, farming machinery such as tractors, and smokestacks of refinery companies are just some of the ways carbon dioxide gases are release into the atmosphere by human contributors. The nitrous oxide gases affect the aquatic ecosystem food web chains, which leads from the smallest phytoplankton up to the largest mammal, which is man.
It increases as the Earth’s atmosphere warms which makes it the most feedback mechanisms to the green house effect. Carbon Dioxide is released through natural activities like volcano eruptions and human activities like deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. We have seen that humans have increased their atmospheric CO2 concentration by a third since the Industrial Revolution. Methane is a hydrocarbon gas, which is produced through natural sources and human activities such as decomposition of wastes in landfills and rice cultivation. Methane is a more active green house gas than CO2 but is less abundant in the atmosphere.
| | In biological magnification toxins concentrate at higher trophic levels because at these levels biomass tends to be lower. | | Sometimes harmful substances persist for long periods of time in an ecosystem and continue to cause harm. | | Since the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased greatly as a result of burning fossil fuels and wood removed by deforestation. | Carbon Dioxide Problems | One pressing problem caused by human activities is the rising level of atmospheric carbon dioxide. | | The FACTS-I experiment is testing how elevated CO2 influences tree growth, carbon concentration in soils, and other factors over a ten-year period.
Modernity may cease with global warming as half the biggest companies are oil companies, and oil is the essence of life. Deforestation and the effects of global warming on our forests and trees are far-reaching and quite evident. All our planets physical features are changing rapidly. And McKibben repeats himself on purpose to get his point across: the planet we knew is no more, we live on a new, more complex and harsher
Power plants are the main resource for the burning of coal and oil. When they are burned it releases a substance called sulfur dioxide and can affect the environment including our live stock, plants, animals, the air that we breathe and our water sources. Recycling becomes more important on large scales. Used consumer goods are collected, converted back into raw materials and are remade into new consumer products. Examples of materials commonly recycled are, office paper, steel from old buildings, plastic containers and aluminum cans.
Coal, natural gas, and oil are burned for energy in many ways such as cars and power plants. Forest burning for deforestation also causes C02 emissions. C02 emissions are harmful to the planet and cause the planet to heat up. Global warming causes worse weather conditions in the world amongst other issues. With so many issues that can arise with a hotter Earth, I believe this to be a major issue that needs to be addressed.
These industrial activities have raised atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide which contribute to greenhouse gases. The extra amount of these gases mean there is a thicker layer, meaning the gases absorb outgoing long-wave radiation which traps in too much heat. Increasing amounts of CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour and ozone all contribute to this. The main cause in this rise is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas and petrol. Since the industrial revolution the levels of atmospheric CO₂ have increased from 280 parts per million to 380ppm for the past 10,000.
Since the beginning of human civilization and the Industrial Revolution, mankind has lived in a competitive relationship with nature. Human tendency to exert a negative influence on ecology has resulted in rapid increases in the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Evidence has proven that “since 1900, the global surface temperature of the Earth has risen about 0.8 Celsius (see fig. 1).” As data have shown, temperature has been increasing ever since the period of Industrial Revolution (after the year 1840 to 1850). We then, can assume the reason for the increasing temperature was resulted from industries, over-powering energy with coal during that specified time period.
Besides, the deforestation will leave a huge impact on the local populations who depend on the forests resources to survive. Tress help absorb greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions that are caused by human civilization that contribute to global climate change. Without trees, more carbon and greenhouse gasses will enter the atmosphere. To make this matter worst, trees will actually become a carbon sources when they are cut or burned. According to WWF, “Tropical forests hold more than 210 gigatons of carbon, and deforestation represents around 15 percent of greenhouse gas