Global Warming

A Thesis

Presented to

Mr. Patrick D. Dagaraga

Christ the King College

In Partial Fulfillment

In the Requirement of the

Natural Science I

By

Leonel Martin V. Carillero

July 20, 2009

Title: "Global Warming" are we responsible?

Statement of the ProblemGlobal Warming is not a fad. It is not a story that

somebody just made up. Global Warming is a scientific reality

that all humans face. Some of the things we do have a negative

impact on our planet. And what are those things that caused

global warming?

We all know that every little thing that has caused global

warming has its own effect. To answer that, we will ask to

ourselves what the effects of global warming are. Knowing that

made us felt that there’s something we need to do as a little

contribution for being one who caused global warming. We

need to reverse this impact now by giving an effort to reduce it.

And what are the things that we could do to reduce global

warming?

IntroductionGlobal warming is indeed a scientific reality that all

humans are facing. This is the result of the things that we do

that have a negative impact to our planet. One who is making or

doing those things are the humans. Global warming will not

happen without those things that have caused it.

Greenhouse gases are the number one cause of global

warming. When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, we

should not ask ourselves whether greenhouse gases emitted by

human activities have an impact, but how much effect these

emissions have on temperature. This greenhouse gases are the

water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane,

chloroflourocarbon, hydroflourocarbon, trifluoromethyl sulfur

pentafluoride and ozone. These gases have big impacts to

global warming. Deforestation is the second cause of

atmospheric carbon dioxide. All of these causes will not

happen if humans also will not do things that could cause the

causes of global warming.

Consequences come from those causes. These

consequences are the things that we are experiencing now. We

suffered from the things that caused greenhouse effect.

This thesis was made in order for us to be aware more

about global warming and for us to know what we can do to

reduce global warming. We cannot take back what we’ve done

so reducing global warming is the best way we can do so that

all of us will still be living in this world.

Global Warming, increase in the average temperature of

the atmosphere, oceans, and landmasses of Earth. This has

been happening in the recent decades and is expected to

continue. In fact the term global warming is said to be a specific

example of climatic changes. In scientific and common terms,

global warming refers to recent warming and also implies a

human influence on the same.

The planet has warmed (and cooled) many times during

the 4.65 billion years of its history. At present Earth appears to

be facing a rapid warming, which most scientists believe

results, at least in part, from human activities.

The chief cause of this warming is thought to be the

burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which

releases into the atmosphere carbon dioxide and other

substances known as greenhouse gases. As the atmosphere

becomes richer in these gases, it becomes a better insulator,

retaining more of the heat provided to the planet by the Sun.

The average surface temperature of Earth is about 15°C

(59°F). Over the last century, this average has risen by about

0.6 degree Celsius (1 Fahrenheit degree). Scientists predict

further warming of 1.4 to 5.8 Celsius degrees (2.5 to 10.4

Fahrenheit degrees) by the year 2100. This temperature rise is

expected to melt polar ice caps and glaciers as well as warm

the oceans, all of which will expand ocean volume and raise sea

level by an estimated 9 to 100 cm (4 to 40 in), flooding some

coastal regions and even entire islands.

Some regions in warmer climates will receive more

rainfall than before, but soils will dry out faster between storms.

This soil desiccation may damage food crops, disrupting food

supplies in some parts of the world. Plant and animal species

will shift their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations

seeking cooler temperatures and species that cannot do so

may become extinct. The potential consequences of global

warming are so great that many of the world's leading

scientists have called for international cooperation and

immediate action to counteract the problem.

Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over

the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the

atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapor,

carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide and ozone.

Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the

greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of

greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the

emission of carbon dioxide.

 

The greenhouse effect

When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed

and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the

atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of

these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in

the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of

this long wave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These

greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth

some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to

space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is

called the "greenhouse effect".

A.Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases occur naturally in the environment and

also result from human activities. By far the most abundant

greenhouse gas is water vapor, which reaches the atmosphere

through evaporation from oceans, lakes, and rivers, which

causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth (not

including clouds)

Carbon dioxide is the next most abundant greenhouse

gas, which causes 9-26% of the greenhouse effect on Earth. It

flows into the atmosphere from many natural processes, such

as volcanic eruptions; the respiration of animals, which breathe

in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; and the burning or decay

of organic matter, such as plants. Carbon dioxide leaves the

atmosphere when it is absorbed into ocean water and through

the photosynthesis of plants, especially trees. Photosynthesis

breaks up carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen into the

atmosphere and incorporating the carbon into new plant tissue.

Humans escalate the amount of carbon dioxide released

to the atmosphere when they burn fossil fuels, solid wastes,

and wood and wood products to heat buildings, drive vehicles,

and generate electricity. At the same time, the number of trees

available to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis has

been greatly reduced by deforestation, the long-term

destruction of forests by indiscriminate cutting of trees for

lumber or to clear land for agricultural activities.

Oceans and other natural processes absorb excess carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere.

Human activities have caused carbon dioxide to be

released to the atmosphere at rates much faster than that at

which Earth’s natural processes can cycle this gas.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases by about

1.5 ppm per year. If current predictions prove accurate, by the

year 2100 carbon dioxide will reach concentrations of more

than 540 to 970 ppm.

Methane is an even more effective insulator, trapping over

20 times more heat than does the same amount of carbon

dioxide, which causes 4-9% of the greenhouse effect on Earth.

Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal,

natural gas, and oil. Methane also comes from rotting organic

waste in landfills, and it is released from certain animals,

especially cows, as a byproduct of digestion.

Nitrous oxide is a powerful insulating gas released

primarily by burning fossil fuels and by plowing farm soils.

Nitrous oxide traps about 300 times more heat than does the

same amount of carbon dioxide. The concentration of nitrous

oxide in the atmosphere has increased 17 percent over

preindustrial levels. In addition, greenhouse gases are

produced in many manufacturing processes. Perfluorinated

compounds result from the smelting of aluminum.

Hydrofluorocarbons form during the manufacture of many

products, including the foams used in insulation, furniture, and

car seats. Refrigerators built in some developing nations still

use chlorofluorocarbons as coolants. In addition to their ability

to retain atmospheric heat, some of these synthetic chemicals

also destroy Earth’s high-altitude ozone layer, the protective

layer of gases that shields Earth from damaging ultraviolet

radiation. The atmospheric concentrations of many of these

gases are either increasing more slowly or decreasing.

Scientists are growing concerned about other gases produced

from manufacturing processes that pose an environmental risk.

A substantial rise in atmospheric concentrations of a newly

identified synthetic compound called trifluoromethyl sulfur

pentafluoride. Atmospheric concentrations of this gas are

rising quickly, and although it still is extremely rare in the

atmosphere, scientists are concerned because the gas traps

heat more effectively than all other known greenhouse gases.

Perhaps more worrisome, scientists have been unable to

confirm the industrial source of the gas.

Another distinct issue commonly associated with

greenhouse warming and global warming is the ozone. Ozone

is a naturally occurring gas in the lower atmosphere that helps

trap heat. The burning of fossil fuels creates even more ozone,

as ozone is one component of smog. As ozone builds, so does

trapped heat, increasing the greenhouse effect.

Additionally, ozone plays a role in the upper atmosphere

where it shields the Earth from deadly ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Unfortunately, CFC's - the same human produced compound

that acts like a greenhouse gas in the lower atmosphere -

destroy ozone. This can result in holes in our upper ozone layer

as seen over Antarctica where cold temperatures, atmospheric

circulation and other factors combine to 'draw' these ozone

holes.

Another major man made cause for global warming is the

CFC’s or scientifically known as Chlorofluorocarbons.

Chlorofluorocarbons are widely used in refrigerators and in

aerosol sprays. The chlorofluorocarbons cause global warming

by damaging the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a protective

layer in the earth’s atmosphere which prevents the harmful

radiation of the sun from reaching the earth. The ozone layer is

already damaged by the indiscriminate use of various

chemicals by man.

B. Deforestation

After carbon emissions caused by humans, deforestation

is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Deforestation is responsible for 20-25% of all carbon emissions

entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of about 34

million acres of trees each year. The destroying of tropical

forests alone is throwing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon

dioxide into the atmosphere each year. We are also losing

temperate forests. The temperate forests of the world account

for an absorption rate of 2 billion tons of carbon annually.

Scientists have made several predictions about how global

warming will affect weather, sea levels, coastlines, agriculture,

wildlife, and human health.

A. Weather

During global warming, northern regions of the Northern

Hemisphere will heat up more than other areas of the planet,

northern and mountain glaciers will shrink, and less ice will

float on northern oceans. Regions that now experience light

winter snows may receive no snow at all. In temperate

mountains, snowlines will be higher and snowpacks will melt

earlier. Growing seasons will be longer in some areas. Winter

and nighttime temperatures will tend to rise more than summer

and daytime ones. The warmed world will be generally more

humid as a result of more water evaporating from the oceans.

Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and its increased presence

should add to the insulating effect. On the other hand, more

vapors in the atmosphere will produce more clouds, which

reflect sunlight back into space, which should slow the

warming process. Greater humidity will increase rainfall, on

average, about 1 percent for each Fahrenheit degree of

warming. Storms are expected to be more frequent and more

intense. However, water will also evaporate more rapidly from

soil, causing it to dry out faster between rains. Some regions

might actually become drier than before. Winds will blow harder

and perhaps in different patterns. Hurricanes, which gain their

force from the evaporation of water, are likely to be more

severe. Against the background of warming, some very cold

periods will still occur. Weather patterns are expected to be

less predictable and more extreme.

B. Sea Levels

As the atmosphere warms, the surface layer of the ocean

warms as well, expanding in volume and thus raising sea level.

Warming will also melt much glacier ice, especially around

Greenland, further swelling the sea. Sea levels worldwide rose

10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 in) during the 20th century, and IPCC

scientists predict a further rise of 9 to 88 cm (4 to 35 in) in the

21st century. Sea-level changes will complicate life in many

coastal regions. Erosion of cliffs, beaches, and dunes will

increase. Storm surges, in which winds locally pile up water

and raise the sea, will become more frequent and damaging. As

the sea invades the mouths of rivers, flooding from runoff will

also increase upstream. Wealthier countries will spend huge

amounts of money to protect their shorelines, while poor

countries may simply evacuate low-lying coastal regions. Even

a modest rise in sea level will greatly change coastal

ecosystems. New marshes will form in many places, but not

where urban areas and developed landscapes block the way.

This sea-level rise will cover much of the Florida Everglades.

C. Agriculture

A warmed globe will probably produce as much food as

before, but not necessarily in the same places. Semiarid

tropical farmlands in some parts of Africa may become further

impoverished. Desert farm regions that bring in irrigation water

from distant mountains may suffer if the winter snowpack,

which functions as a natural reservoir, melts before the peak

growing months. Crops and woodlands may also be afflicted by

more insects and plant diseases.

D. Animals and Plants

Animals and plants will find it difficult to escape from or adjust

to the effects of warming because humans occupy so much

land. Under global warming, animals will tend to migrate toward

the poles and up mountainsides toward higher elevations, and

plants will shift their ranges, seeking new areas as old habitats

grow too warm. In many places, however, human development

will prevent this shift. Species that find cities or farmlands

blocking their way north or south may die out. Some types of

forests, unable to propagate toward the poles fast enough, may

disappear.

E. Human Health

In a warmer world, scientists predict that more people will get

sick or die from heat stress, due less to hotter days than to

warmer nights (giving the sufferers less relief). Diseases now

found in the tropics, transmitted by mosquitoes and other

animal hosts, will widen their range as these animal hosts move

into regions formerly too cold for them. Today 45 percent of the

world’s people live where they might get bitten by a mosquito

carrying the parasite that causes malaria; that percentage may

increase to 60 percent if temperatures rise. Other tropical

diseases may spread similarly, including dengue fever, yellow

fever, and encephalitis. Rising incidence of allergies and

respiratory diseases as warmer air grows more charged with

pollutants, mold spores, and pollens.

Chemicals are one of the major contributors to global

warming. Chlorine is very harmful to the environment and we

should avoid using any type of chlorine compounds. Even fire

extinguishers, bubbles in plastic foam, spray paint, bleach,

industrial chemicals and household chemicals are harmful to

the environment. The phosphates found in laundry detergents

and soaps lead to water pollution. Aerosols lead to air pollution.

Controlling pollution will help us control global warming.

We need to reduce the usage of electricity as producing

electricity leads to emission of greenhouse gases. Electricity is

produced mainly from fossil fuels and burning them emits

greenhouse gases. An average home tends to contribute more

to global warming than an average car. We can reduce the

electricity usage by switching to energy efficient CFL bulb

instead of the incandescent light bulbs. Doing so can reduce

the emissions of carbon dioxide by almost 700 pounds over a

bulb’s lifetime. Make sure that the appliances you buy are

energy efficient. Energy efficient appliances are cheaper to run

and can make sure that your energy bill is greatly reduced.

Many countries have energy efficient labels on appliances

which would indicate how energy efficient the appliance is.

Energy spent on heating and cooling our homes are on

the rise. With warmer temperatures, the need for cooling has

increased and that is consuming a lot of energy. The amount of

energy spent on heating and cooling are pretty much wasted by

us. Unless we have good insulation to keep our homes warmer

we will be spending more energy to heat our homes. There are

many ways to ensure that no cold air enters into your homes

and that can reduce the energy used to warm your homes

during winter. Also there are many natural cooling options that

you can use to help you during the summer ensuring that less

energy is spent on heating and cooling your home. Most of the

options are simple and can be done using the do it yourself

kits.

Vehicles emit carbon monoxide which is a greenhouse

gas. With the number of vehicles increasing leaps and bounds,

the carbon monoxide emissions are greatly on the rise. Every

gallon of gasoline that is burnt emits about 26 pounds of

carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Good vehicle

maintenance and smart driving would reduce the emissions by

as much as 30%. If you are buying a new vehicle make sure that

buy an efficient vehicle – something that would give out less

emissions and would go extra miles for a gallon of fuel.

You also have the option of reducing the usage of your

vehicle. Walk whenever you can or ride a bike to the nearest

store. Car pooling is another idea which can help you reduce

emissions. Vehicles running on hybrid fuels are available in the

market nowadays. You can always go for such vehicles as they

tend not to emit any green house gases. Make sure that you

recycle your air conditioner coolant when you have your air

conditioner serviced. Thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide

emitted can be saved by this move. Even small change that you

make to your vehicle and your life style will help your

environment.

We should try whatever is possible to reduce the usage of

energy in and around our homes and yards. Do whatever we

can to ensure that the carbon dioxide emitted into the

atmosphere is reduced. Plants use carbon dioxide for

photosynthesis and during this they give out oxygen. Planting

trees and plants around our homes will help reducing the

carbon dioxide present around as the plants would use up the

carbon dioxide. Lawns need maintenance and an average

lawnmower takes up a lot of energy. So plant more trees and do

use a manual lawnmower to maintain your lawn. Destroying

forests to make way for residential and industrial development

are also reasons for increased global warming. So population

control also can help reduce global warming

Remember, the more aware an individual is about global

warming, the more he or she would contribute in trying to stop

increase in global warming. Let us all work together and curtail

the emission of green house gases and make our world get rid

of global warming. Together we can!

Global Warming is probably mankind’s biggest threat for

the future.  It is on the increase everyday and it is effecting

more and more while its effects are accumulating every day. 

Our climate system tends to vary through natural, internal

processes. Also external forcing factors like volcanic

emissions, solar activity, orbital forcing and greenhouse gases

are other factors that can affect climate system changes.

Recent study has shown that the increase of greenhouse gases

is a major cause for global warming.

Just adding carbon dioxide or methane to the atmosphere

of earth will make the earth’s surface warmer. Greenhouse

gases are already present in the atmosphere which produces a

greenhouse effect. This greenhouse effect is needed to keep

the earth warm so that it is habitable. But excess greenhouse

gases will result in warmer temperatures and that is exactly

what is happening now.

Over the years there has been a debate concerning the

net effect of the increased greenhouse gases. This debate is

allowing for positive and negative feedback on the issue. An

example of the feedback process is ice-albedo feedback. With

increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, earth’s

surface warms up and this leads to melting of the ice present

near the poles. As ice melts, its place is taken up by water or

land and both of them are less reflective than ice.

This means they will absorb more solar radiation and this

causes more warming. As warming increases more ice will melt

and this cycle keeps going on. The earth’s current climate has

been thrown out of equilibrium due to excess greenhouse

gases. But climate commitment studies do show us that even if

the greenhouse gases are somehow maintained at the present

levels, the earth would experience a further warming of about

1ºF.

If we don’t control the increase in greenhouse gases, then

a lot of changes will occur on planet earth which would only

make living on earth tougher. Hence the need to curtail

emission of greenhouse gases has become a prime focus in

recent years.

Nations around the world are now trying to implement actions

to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Many strategies

have been proposed to this effect. Some of the strategies to

mitigate global warming are energy conservation, carbon taxes,

using renewable energy, carbon offsets, carbon capture and

storage, nanotechnology and environmental vegetarianism. A

combination of these strategies would be beneficial in reducing

the emission of greenhouse gases.

As global warming is a phenomenon occurring all over

the world, countries have to unite and ensure that the

emissions of greenhouse gases are controlled to ensure that

the world we live in now would be worth living in for all of us.

Therefore, the researcher concludes that global warming

refers to the increase of the average temperature of the

atmosphere, oceans and landmasses of Earth. Simply put,

Earth now is getting hotter. The scientific community believes

climate changes like global warming have occurred throughout

Earth's history and will continue to occur in the future. Some

evidence links global warming to solar activity; however, there

are other theories as well.

One popular theory relates to the "greenhouse effect." Gases

that make up our atmosphere are analogous to a greenhouse in

that they allow sunlight to pass through, and then trap much of

the heat from escaping. This naturally occurring phenomenon

keeps Earth's surface warmer than it would be otherwise.

However, human produced compounds regularly released into

the atmosphere in recent years have "thickened the

greenhouse wall" beyond naturally occurring levels. Even less

heat escapes causing the temperature to rise when this

happens. And the greenhouse gases that cause the global

warming are the water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous

oxide. Another distinct issue commonly associated with

greenhouse warming and global warming is the ozone. And

major man made cause of global warming is the CFC’s or the

Chlorofluorocarbon.

This global warming will control if all of us will help

each other to reduce the global warming. We should stop doing

things that are not important and the things that could cause

global warming. We could apply the concept of 3R’s, “Reduce,

Reuse, and Recycle”. Let us all work together and curtail the

emission of green house gases and make our world get rid of

global warming. Together we can!

Websites:

Globalwarmingpages.com

Globalwarming.com

Wikipedia.org

Encarta.msn.com

Stopglobalwarming.org

Ecobridge.com

Books:

Ferrer, Diana L.Science and Technology I.G.

Araneta Ave., cor. Ma. Clara Street. Sta. Mesa

Heights, Quezon City: Vibal Publishing House,

Inc, 1995.