Signs of Climate Change - Essay Example

Global Warming Greenhouse gases are important as they are capable of maintaining the temperature of the earth. During the day, radiation from the sunenters the earth’s atmosphere through the sun’s rays. While some of this solar radiation is reflected back into space once it hits the atmosphere, majority of it is absorbed by the planet. The amount of radiation absorbed by the planet is changed into heat energy and used by processes on earth. At this time, infrared radiation comes out and exits through the atmosphere into space. Some of the infrared radiation is absorbed by the gases in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor and emitted again towards the planet. These gases in the atmosphere provide an invisible blanket around the earth and help keep the planet warm enough. Global warming occurs because of the greenhouse effect, or when the gases like carbon dioxide increase resulting in more energy trapped and re-emitted back to the earth. This paper will attempt to describe in more detail the global warming phenomenon. Global warming was a term that was first used in 1975 by American scientist Wallace Smith Broecker who discovered that the climate of the earth is warming consistently due to various human activities. In a magazine, he published a paper entitled Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming which was where he first coined the term. In 1979, the term was used again to depict the physical phenomenon that is heating up the planet. The article with the title The Charney Report was published by the National Academy of Science. (Yukozimo, 2014) The phenomenon of global warming can be further understood by taking a look at the earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is a region of dense gases in the stratosphere of the earth that is capable of blocking most of the harmful solar ultraviolet radiations. More than ninety percent of the ozone is present in the stratosphere of earth. It has a higher concentration of ozone as compared to the earth’s surface. Unfortunately, this important part of our atmosphere is slowly becoming more and more fragile and both nature and man can be held responsible. Manmade chemicals like halocarbons, CFCs, HCFCs, freon and halon contribute largely to the depletion of the ozone layer. Due to the increasing concentration of the refrigerants, solvents and propellants in the atmosphere, the ozone layer is under depletion of the rate of four percent per decade. As the ozone layer becomes thinner and thinner, ultraviolet light penetrates through the layer and reaches the surface of the earth. How warm the solar radiations that hit the earth are depends on the amount of ultraviolet radiation present in the light. (Hoyt, D. & Schatten, K., 1993) The depletion of the ozone layer can be attributed to several causes. The massive use of fossil fuel resources, for example, has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and nitrous oxide. As the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere increases, the atmosphere is unable to maintain a balance and the planet continuously gets warmer. The increased use of fossil fuel resources may be due to the cutting of the trees in the forests. Maybe not many people know but forests do consume carbon dioxide emissions and carbon dioxide at the atmospheric level. Another example is depositing industrial untreated waste water into the streams and rivers. This is a major problem that greatly affects aquatic and marine life. The plants in the oceans and rivers efficiently produce oxygen by taking the atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide. However, the untreated waste water from various chemical factories is disturbing the biodiversity of the oceans and rivers. As such, the carbon dioxide emissions became more than necessary and the whole process further increases the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (Ruddiman, W., 2005) Natural events also emit greenhouse gases. Natural events like volcanic eruptions generate massive amount of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. On a similar note, the massive increase in the number of grazers also influences the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Interestingly, these activities from nature are supposed to remain under control until the balance in the atmosphere is changed. Curiously, the shift in the natural balance of various processes on earth has been ascribed to recent human activities. The temperature of the earth from 1906 to 2005 rose to 0.74 C on the average. (Hoyt, D. & Schatten, K., 1993) Unfortunately for man, global warming produces many harsh environmental effects. For example, the spike in the temperature of the sea has resulted to an increase in the sea level. The sea level rose to about eight inches averagely in the twentieth century. Alarmingly, the amount of elevation of the sea in the past three hundred years is less than the rise in the twentieth century. There are two probably reasons for this. One is the thermal expansion of water and the other is melting of mountainous and arctic glaciers. This rise in the earth’s temperature has caused most glaciers in the arctic region to melt. As the remaining arctic glaciers continue to melt, those that have formed on the mountains have also started to melt. While the white ice manages to reflect the solar radiations and maintain a low temperature to suit the regions, the melted arctic glaciers mix with the dark ocean which consistently absorbs the radiation and make the regions warmer. From a hundred and fifty glaciers in the Glaciers National Park in 1850, there are now only twenty-five remaining. The change in the weather system and seasons is another disquieting result of climate change. The weather is going extreme due to rise in the sea level, melting of the mountainous glaciers and alteration in the hydrologic cycles or rain cycles. (Hilderman, R., 2011) For instance, insect-borne diseases are increasing as the winter season becomes shorter, or are not as cold as it used to be. The cold winter influences the birth rate of insects. The insect larvae are unable to survive the winters. However, due to elevation in the temperature, the winters are ineffective in most regions and insect larvae can easily survive the winters. This allows for the high birth rates in insect. Proof of this occurrence is the increase in the number of mosquitoes in most regions. The more mosquitoes, the more there will be diseases like Malaria and dengue carried by the insect. (Hilderman, R., 2011) Aside from insect-borne diseases, the harmful effect of global warming can also be observed in animals and man. In some areas, there is an increase in the number of patients with respiratory related problems. Problems associated with a person’s skin are also increasing due to the harsh sun. Some temperature-sensitive animals are under extinction due to the harsh climactic conditions. Animals like polar bears and some other arctic animals are under threat of extinction due to the climate change. There is a need to act now to reduce the impact of global warming and let it not further disrupt the balance of temperature in the planet. One way is for society to significantly reduce the utilization of fossil fuel resources. Also, at an individual level, green architecture and green home plans must be promoted to reduce the energy consumption and to utilize energy efficiently. Industries have to treat the wastewater before dumping this into the rivers or oceans. When possible, it is better to re-use treated wastewater. Another way is for industries to generate energy through alternate energy resources like solar, wind, etc. Recycling of goods should also be promoted as this utilizes less energy as compared to that used in the production of new products. Governments should promote alternate energy resources. They should reduce the taxes on the industries and individuals that are using less energy or utilizing alternate energy resources to encourage others to follow suit. Moreover, they should increase the taxes in the industries and individuals that use more energy and produce more wastes. It is estimated that estimated that between 1906 and 2005, the average temperature of the earth’s surface rose by about 0.74 C (Hoyt, D. & Schatten, K., 1993). Several activities, such as those from nature, influence the earth’s temperature to increase at an average level. However, human activities have negatively affected this usual process. The concentration of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to man’s activities such as the usage of fossil fuel has allowed a greater amount of solar radiation to enter the earth’s atmosphere and a lesser amount of infrared radiation to be reflected back into space. This has dangerously increased the temperature of the planet. Global warming may have catastrophic effects. It would be prudent for man to take stock of what is happening now so society would be more diligent in their endeavor to prevent this phenomenon from continuing. References: Hilderman, R. (2011). Signs of Climate Change. North Earth News, 60-64. Hoyt, D. & Schatten, K. (1993, November). A discussion of plausible solar irradiance variations, 1700-1992. Journal of Geophysical Research 98 (A11): 18, 895-18,906. Ruddiman, W. (2005). Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Yukizomo. (2014). Who Discovered Global Warming? 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