Global Warming Essay -- Environmental Global Climate Change

Global Warming First discovered at the turn of the century by the Swedish scientist Arrhenius, global warming was initially thought to only cause increased greenhouse gases from coal combustion emissions. It wasn’t until fifty years later that the real causes and effects of global warming would be discovered. A British scientist by the name of Calendar correlated the 10% increase of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide between 1850 and 1940 with the observed warming of northern Europe and North America, which began in the 1880's. As for the cause of global warming, scientists generally believe that both the combustion of fossil fuels and other human activities are the primary reason for the increased concentration of carbon dioxide. Human activities such as the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas contribute heavily to global warming. Other major causes include deforestation, methane gas emissions, and the release of nitrous oxide chemicals into the atmosphere. The gasses are released primarily by rice cultivation, cattle and livestock populations, gas pipelines, and landfills. Deforestation is a big problem as far as global warming because trees remove Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere, but release large quantities when burned. Methane gas emissions contribute because they are trapped in the earth’s atmosphere and reflect light, which is usually released in a clean, healthy atmosphere. The energy burned to run cars and trucks, heat homes and businesses, and power factories is responsible for about eighty percent of society's carbon dioxide emissions, about twenty-five percent of U.S. methane emissions, and about twenty percent of global nitrous oxide emissions. The evidence of global warming has been a care and concern ... ...problem will only garner with time. New and more efficient programs need to be developed as well as alternate methods of energy production because the methods now are not efficient enough to be able to cut pollution and waste by a significant amount. Possibly over time, such changes can be made and goals achieved so that we can live in a cleaner, healthier world. Works Cited Cowie, J. (1998). Climate and Human Change: Disaster or Opportunity? New York: Parthenon Publishing Fleagle, R.G. (1994) Global Environment Change Westport: Praeger Publishing World Wide Fund for Nature homepage. Articles written by WWF staff and AP (updated October 13, 1999: site visited October 13, 1999, (Http://www.Panda.org)] United States Environmental Protection Agency homepage. Written by EPA staff [updated April 21, 1998: visited October 12, 1999, (Http://www.epa.gov)]