The effects of gasoline engines have taken its toll on the environment. They contribute heavily to the current pollution of the air that we breathe. The emissions from gasoline cars help to produce greenhouse gases. As stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat within Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the main elements which trap heat.
But it is more difficult to find a proper and scientifically correct cause for all of this. How is this possible? The world should have been much warmer according to Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. Today’s climatologists are more than ever concerned with the human influences on the climate change. Should we support these environmentalists?
As Williams E. Rees states in his book “Our Ecological Footprint”. This is shown in the Climate Change view because our pollution results in temperatures rising. Due to this increase of temperatures the Arctic sea ice is melting, glaciers are retreating and sea levels are rising. At the top of the food chain are the producers. In society’s case the producers are the natural resources.
This essay will show the reason why we need renewable energies and two solutions to use them effectively. There are three main problems with the use of fossil fuels. Firstly, although they are the main sources for world energy supply，they are also the main cause of man-made climate change resulting from the CO2 emissions produced. The global carbon budget has shown that 87 percent of all human-produced carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil (Le Quéré, 1107-1157). The consequence of climate change is serious.
The sun radiates solar energy towards earth. Some of this energy gets absorbed by the earth’s surface and some energy is radiated back into space as long wave energy. Certain gases in the atmosphere prevent this reflected energy to pass; they trap the energy and thereby warm the atmosphere and the surface of the earth just like in a greenhouse. Therefore, those gases are known as greenhouse gases (GHG). The main GHGs within the atmosphere are Carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O).
A device in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle, containing a catalyst for converting pollutant gases into less harmful ones. A catalytic converter is a device that uses a catalyst to convert three harmful compounds in car exhaust into harmless compounds. The three harmful compounds are: * Hydrocarbons (in the form of unburned gasoline) * Carbon monoxide (formed by the combustion of gasoline) * Nitrogen oxides (created when the heat in the engine forces nitrogen in the air to combine with oxygen) Carbon monoxide is a poison for any air-breathing animal. Nitrogen oxides lead to smog and acid rain, and hydrocarbons produce smog. In a catalytic converter, the catalyst (in the form of platinum and palladium) is coated onto a ceramic honeycomb or ceramic beads that are housed in a muffler-like package attached to the exhaust pipe.
Unfortunately, the activity of burning or combusting fossil fuels releases various kinds of hazardous substances and pollutants which eventually leads to changes in the environment; such as climate change, global warming, and changes in environmental health. Let us start with the change in climate or climate change. For over the past 150 years, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil have caused the concentrations of heat-trapping "greenhouse gases" to increase significantly in our atmosphere. These gases prevent heat from escaping to space, somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse. It would change our climate, but it would not bring us close to the level of uninhabitable Venus.
“The increase in the mean temperature of the earth due to excessive emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen.” ( Green) These extra gases are making it hard for heat to escape the Earth’s atmosphere resulting in warmer temperatures. Here is a model of the Greenhouse Effect retrieved from http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/greenhouse.html. Ethical Issues on Global Warming There are many causes of Global Warming to include Carbon Dioxide from power plants, cars, airplanes, and from buildings. “In 2002 about 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions stem from the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation.”(Ayres) 93% of electricity generations is produced by coal. 33% of the carbon dioxide comes from vehicles.
Because they reflect solar energy back into space they have a cooling effect on the world. The greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide is also produced however the CO2 produced is insignificant when compared to emissions created by humans. (see also featured article - Do Volcanoes cause climate change) Ocean current - The oceans are a major component of the climate system. Ocean currents move vast amounts of heat across the planet. Winds push horizontally against the sea surface and drive ocean current patterns.
Furthermore, there are arguments that global warming is not even a threat as assumed by the majority. In this paper I will present many flaws in the Global warming conundrum ranging from Bias to Political issues. What the majority has come to believe might not be the entire truth. So really, which factors contribute to the global climate change and how do these factors impact the earth compared to human activity? Yes, our earth is currently warming up, but who says this is a bad thing?