The Greenhouses Gases on the Earths Surface - Essay Example

Climate Change Climate is defined as the “average pattern of weather for a particular region over a long period of time” (European Commission . Although it is expected that climate changes from time to time over long geographical periods depending on factors like the sun’s strength, the tilt of the earth’s orbit relative to the sun, changes in the continents’ position and the atmosphere’s composition, a prevailing opinion from the scientific community points to a rising temperature of the earth is rising that is causing changes in climate (Great Britain: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2006 8). The difference between the climate change that takes place over long geographical periods and the present climate change brought about by global warming is that whilst the former is a natural phenomenon, the latter is anthropogenic or man-made in origin. The earth’s temperature is the product of a ping-pong game between the sun and the earth. The sun constantly and continuously gives off energy in the form of sunlight and radiates it to the earth’s atmosphere. The solar energy that touches the earth’s atmosphere is either absorbed by some of the earth’s particles or transmitted. The heat that reaches the earth’s surface is then emitted back to the atmosphere as infrared radiation. However, not all of the infrared radiation successfully passes out of the earth’s atmosphere because some atmospheric components absorbs and therefore prevents infrared radiation from entirely leaving the atmosphere, The trapped heat is then eventually reradiates back to the earth’s surface (see Fig. 1). Such heat-trapping components are called greenhouse gases and the process of absorbing, trapping and reradiating infrared heat to the earth’s surface is called the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is what sustains life on earth because without it earth would be more than 30°C colder than what it should be and therefore, inhabitable by humans, animals and plants. The present global warming is attributed to the more than usual amount of heat trapped and reradiated back by the greenhouses gases to the earth’s surfacea (Great Britain: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2006 8; Ebbing & Gammon 210; Hardy 2003 3). Fig. 1 Greenhouse Effect (source: Google Images) There are two classifications of gases found in the earth’s atmosphere: the primary gases made up of nitrogen, oxygen and argon which make up 99% of the gases, and; the trace gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOX), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS), and ozone (O3). These rare trace gases, together with water vapour, are known collectively as greenhouse gases because they have the effect of warming the earth by trapping infrared radiation and transmitting it back to the surface of the earth (Hardy 2003 5). According to scientists, the earth is presently getting hotter and thereby affecting climate cycles because the trace gases in the earth’s atmosphere particularly CO2 are increasingly accumulating in the atmosphere as a result of fuel burning, deforestation and changes in land use. Studies show that CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has risen from 290 part per million (ppm) in 1850 to 380 ppm in 1990 ppm whilst together with CH4, NOX, PFCs, HFCs and SF6, collectively called the Kyoto gases, it rose from 290 ppm to 430 ppm during the aforesaid periods, and is estimated to be rising at 2.3 ppm every year (Hardy 2003 4-5; Stern 2007 4-5). Fig 2 The effect of global warming on climate (Source: Stern 2007 10) Figure 2 illustrates the possible link between global warning and climate change. The rising concentration of greenhouse gases shows a parallel rise in the earth’s temperature, which in turn affects ocean temperatures. These in turn result in the following: rising global mean temperature; rising sea levels; changes in rainfall cycle and nature; changes in climate patterns; melting of ice sheets, sea ice and glaciers. At the receiving end of the physical changes in climate are ecosystems, species and society. Drought, famine and diseases will inevitably result from extreme weather conditions; communities along low-lying and coastal areas will be eventually displaced by increasing levels of water, and; other far-reaching consequences will be brought about by melting ice sheets and glaciers (Stern 2007 10; Great Britain: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2006 13-14). Thus, many sectors of societies, non-governmental organisations, and scientific organisations are gravely concerned with the issue of global warming and its probable catastrophic impact on humans and other living things. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established by two UN bodies, had published special reports on climate change. These reports eventually paved the way to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol and other negotiations and conventions on climate change. It received the Nobel Peace Prize, together with former US VP Al Gore, in 2007 for its work (Dawson & Spannagle 2009 224). The Greenpeace, on the other hand, is an NGO that is also involved in the campaign for the protection of the environment like from the dangers of climate change. It does its work through its supporters that can be found all over the world primarily through campaigns and lobbying (Greenpeace 2010). As earlier stated, former VP Al Gore is also heavily involved in the fight against climate change and in fact, he came with a book and a film based on it called An Inconvenient Truth about climate change. There are other various organisations based in their respective states and countries also campaigning against global warming and climate change. References: Dawson, B. & Spannagle, M. (2009). The Complete Guide to Climate Change. New York: Taylor & Francis. Ebbing, D. & Gammon, S. (2007). General Chemistry, 9th Edition. Cengage Learning. European Commission (2010). Climate Change: What is Climate Change? EUROPA. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/campaign/what/climatechange_en.htm. Great Britain: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2006). Climate Change: The UK Programme 2006. London: The Stationery Office. (2010). Greenpeace. Greenpeace International. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/ Hardy, J. (2003). Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions. John Wiley and Sons. Stern, N.H. (2007). The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. Cambridge University Press. Read More