Report: Global Warming - Essay Example

Global warming Summary of the problem According to the NRDC (2005) the average global temperature has gone up at the fastest rate over the past 50 years than at any other time in recorded history. This rise in temperature has and continues to change the rhythms of climate that all forms of life on earth have come to rely on. For this reason global warming is generally referred to as climate change. Though there are natural events and cycles that affect the climate, Scientists have found that these alone cannot explain the extraordinary rise in global temperatures.

They argue that one cannot ignore the effect of greenhouse gases emitted as a result of human activity (National Geographic, 2012). The challenge is that this change of climate is affecting our health, economy and communities in diverse ways that could lead to disastrous consequences for the coming generations. Causes of Global warming Global warming is caused by the Earth’s atmosphere getting overloaded with heat-trapping greenhouse gases (NRDC, 2005). Human activity produces these different gases in a variety of ways.

Carbon dioxide is produced from the combustion of fossil fuels in factories, cars and electricity production. Methane is produced from large scale farming of grazing animals and from landfills. Nitrous oxide is produced from fertilizers. Other gases include chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases used in industrial processes and refrigeration. These different greenhouse gases have different heat-trapping capacities. In decreasing order of heat-trapping abilities they are as follows: CFC gases, nitrous oxide, methane and then carbon dioxide (National Geographic, 2012).

However, carbon dioxide is the biggest culprit in causing global warming because it is produced in volumes that are many times more than the other gases. For example the use of CFC gases is banned in much of the world because it degrades the ozone layer (National Geographic, 2012). Possible solutions to reducing global warming According to the NRDC (2005) the United States produced 25 per cent of the carbon dioxide pollution in the world and yet according to Gallup polls the US public’s concern on the issue has largely been inconsistent over the years (Castro & LiveScience, 2012).

Public concern is probably the most important ingredient to tackling global warming given that it has a major influence on the behaviour of individuals, corporations and governments. Therefore the first challenge would be to galvanise the public to be more anxious over this global issue. Public concern is important because the technologies needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions exist but then the political will to do so is lacking. At the individual level people can adopt energy conservation practices such as only buying products that have trusted, government-backed energy efficiency symbols such as Energy Star in the US.

Secondly, consumers could boycott using products and/or services that are provided by companies that are not compliant with or not certified as environmentally-conscious. Governments can support reduction of greenhouse gases by imposing carbon taxes and other punitive measures to encourage corporations to produce fewer volumes of these gases. ReferencesCastro, J. & LiveScience (2012). Popular Opinion on Climate Change Traced to Political Elites. [Online]. 7 February 2012. Scientific American.

Available from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=popular-opinion-on-climat. [Accessed: 22 March 2012].National Geographic (2012). Global Warming Causes, Climate Change Causes. [Online]. 22 March 2012. National Geographic. Available from: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-causes. [Accessed: 22 March 2012].NRDC (2005). What is Global Warming. [Online]. 18 October 2005. Natural Resources Defense Council. Available from: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/f101.asp. [Accessed: 22 March 2012].