Global Warming Essays -- Environment Global Warming Climate Change

Global WarmingClimate change is neither new nor unusual. passim the history of the earth, the average spring up temperature, climate and greenhouse gas concentrations throw away changed, sometimes gradually other times quite sharply. During the one-time(prenominal) 10,000 age the earth has been in an interglacial period with a f vently stable climate, surface temperature, and greenhouse gas concentration1. The problem that has arisen in recent times is when scientists analyse the past 150 years, especially the extend 50. Scientists have found an change magnitude greenhouse gas concentration, making the 20th century the hottest in the last 10,000 years.Although the earth has undergone periodic changes known as globular cooling and global heating system, todays global warming is unique, imputable to human influences. The greenhouse effect is essentially gasses in the atmosphere detain heat, rather manage a car window does in the summer. The major heat trapping gasses found in the atmosphere argon CO2 and water vapor- which argon found in large quantity, 03(ozone), ch4(methane), and N2O(nitrous oxide)-which are better heat trappers merely found in smaller quantity, CFCs and PFCs- which are very potent and destroy ozone. The rapid elevation of these gasses in the past fifty years have been the cause for concern of scientists calling it a global warming problem.Global warming is a natural dish up as well as a human assisted process. solar flares and sunspots on with natural elevation of greenhouse gasses due to volcanic activety are the natural causes for global warming. Dr. Judy Lean, a leading astrophysicist, looked at global warming trends from 1860 to the present day. Her research has found from 1860 to 1970, global warming was largely due to natural sources. But from 1970 to the present natural sources considered for exactly one-third the profit while human influence accounted for the remaining two-thirds of the enlarged greenh ouse effect. The increase in greenhouse gasses from human sources lessens from a variety of things. Elevated carbonic acid gas levels, which have been increasing at a rate of 0.5% per year, largely come from the burning of fossil fuels(70-75%), especially coal. Deforestation and plant burning account for the remainder. Increased Methane and Nitrous oxide in the atmosphere are mostly due to agriculture rice patties, cattle, termites and decomposition of dead... ...ns in rewrite to stop the increase. In order to slow the increase, the efficient use of fossil fuels must be adapted. Natural gas gives off very little co2 and methane if burn down properly. Deforestation must also be stopped in order to give natural co2 scrubbers, plants, a chance to aid in the process. Governmental programs have also been implemented. A carbon tax has been considered along with the passing of the 1990 Clean Air Act, aimed at lowering emissions and cleaning air pollution. On a world wide scal e, the Kyoto Accord in 1997, in which 159 nations agreed to work together to decrease Co2 emissions by 5.5% by 2012. The United States agreed, since it accounts for 25% of the worlds total emissions by 1990 figures, to cut its emissions by 7%.Global warming is still a major issue in world and U.S. politics. Conservatives argue for more market-orientated solutions, resulting in the imposition of taxes, resulting in higher(prenominal) prices for environment polluting goods. Liberals on the other hand advocate stiffer industry economy and more direct controls. Any action taken, whatever the ideology, can only help to solve an increasing problem but at what follow to the consumer?