“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.
The steam brings hydrogen sulphide gas to the surface and pollutes the air unless controls are instituted. 2. Water contains many salts and minerals capable of causing water pollution. 3. The earth in a geothermal field may subside as the water is pumped out.
The consequence of climate change is serious. It will cause sea level rises，more flooding and stronger storm. Secondly, the shortage of fossil fuels is also a big problem, which is means fossil fuels are finite and non-renewable. If people cannot use them reasonably and economically, fossil fuels will be used up very soon. Klass model is a good illustration of this problem and it assumes a continuous compound rate and computes fossil fuel reserve depletion times for oil, coal and gas of approximately 35, 107 and 37 years, respectively (Shahriar & Erkan, 1).
Winters are shortening and sea ice is diminishing at a rate of about 3% per decade. Such climate changes are forcing the landscape of the North to change. The tundra regions are being replaced by an increasing tree line due to warmer growing seasons and as a consequence more organisms are moving up north, hence the competition for the food increases[4]. Although such changes to the
This human influence on the global temperature is linked with the “ozone depletion” and the “greenhouse effect”. This depletion is infecting our ozone layer and could currently be described as a continent-sized hole. The depleted ozone layer causes an increased level of microwave radiation and ultraviolet light, which is
This essay clarifies several parts: how human activity influences the climate change, the role of human activity, the impact of natural events. Human activity that is most likely to have a strong impact on the climate change is the burning of the fossil fuels and deforestation. An example of this is the carbon dioxide emissions. A recent report (UNEPWMO, 2004, P10) stated, a great number of carbon dioxide emissions are the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas which used for transportation, manufacture, industrial uses as well as electricity generation. Owing to the development of industry and the use of fossil fuels, the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere has produced and the average global temperature seems to have risen.
The one of the most important current benefits of geothermal energy is that it is essentially limitless and is considered clean, producing around one-sixth of the carbon dioxide that a comparative clean natural-gas- power plant produces. Costs of geothermal energy are initially expensive but much lower than other sources to operate after the initial costs. Drilling and construction of power plants and pipelines can be relatively high but looking at the cost long-term, it is significantly
Although the issue did not start to gain national attention until the early 2000s, scientists have been studying atmospheric gases and the effect that human consumption of fossil fuels has on the atmosphere and climate since the early nineteenth century (Rich). The overwhelming consensus among scientists today is that the climate is changing drastically and humans are causing it through specific, preventable actions (Rich). Global warming is caused by an increase in greenhouse gases, which, under normal conditions, it (the greenhouse effect) is what makes life sustainable by keeping the earth within a constant range of temperatures (Gore). About 30 percent of the light and the heat of the sun is reflected back into space, either by clouds, or by the earth’s surface (especially ice, which is particularly reflective.) About 20 percent of the light and heat from the sun is
Even the best case scenario predicts further increases in carbon dioxide emissions until about 2040. Many of the scenarios indicate that by the middle of the 21st century emissions of carbon dioxide should at least start to level off, though some predict increase in emissions throughout this century. Though the different scenarios predict a wide range of trends in carbon dioxide emissions, the predicted net effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in the future is fairly
20th century warming is likely to be the biggest, during any century over the past 1,000 years for the Northern Hemisphere. Glaciers There has been a large retreat of mountain glaciers in non-polar regions during the 20th century. Northern hemisphere sea-ice extent has decreased 10% since the 1950s, and Arctic summer sea/ice thickness is likely to have decreased by 40%. Sea level has risen between 10 - 25 cm largely due to warmth expansion of the oceans and to a lesser extent due to the melting of land based Ice Mountains. The rate of sea level rise during the 20th century was about 10 times higher than the average rate during the last 3,000 years.