subject: How the Energy You Use Contributes to Global Warming [print this page] It is becoming widely acknowledged that burning fossil fuels and coal contributes to global warming, a term that is probably familiar to the majority of the population. Though familiar, there remains question of what global warming is and what its causes are. If you want to really understand global warming, EnviroCitizen.org would be more than happy to tell you.
Global warming is defined as "a significant increase in the Earth's climatic temperature over a relatively short period of time as a result of the activities of humans". The climate differs from weather, in that weather is both short-term and local. However, the climate is both long-term and global.
There is a strong correlation between human activities, like burning fossil fuels, and climatic changes in the last 200 years. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) discovered many startling correlations between the two. Over the last twelve years, eleven of those years have ranked among the warmest years since 1850. The graphs that map the global mean air temperature and the global average sea temperature look almost exactly the same. Both graphs illustrate a line that, from 1850 to 1960, is relatively flat. Then, between 1960 and 2000, both lines drastically increase. This is certainly something to think about!
Global warming is caused by an increase of the greenhouse effect. When solar rays hit the Earth's atmosphere and surface, about seventy percent of the energy stays on the planet, absorbed by the ground, the oceans and plants. The remaining thirty percent is reflected by clouds and other reflective surfaces like glaciers and snowfields. That seventy percent of the solar energy that Earth has absorbed is radiated back out away from Earth. That energy is absorbed by components of the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, methane gas and water vapor. Once these components absorb the energy, they emit the energy in the form of heat.
In theory, this is a good thing. It keeps Earth habitable. However, the problem is that when more carbon dioxide molecules are present in the atmosphere, more energy is trapped in the atmosphere, resulting in a hotter planet. In 1850, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere measured at about 280 parts per million (ppm). In 2005, carbon dioxide levels measured at 379 ppm. Nitrous oxide and methane also retain solar energy in the atmosphere. Chemical fertilizers release nitrous oxide and methane is emitted by coal, from herds of livestock and from the decomposition process of garbage in landfills. The problem with nitrous oxide and methane is that, although they are less prevalent in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, both of these gases can absorb far more solar energy (thus radiating more heat) than carbon dioxide.
In short, human activities release gases into the air (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane) that absorb the solar energy that used to go back into space. EnviroCitizen.org encourages you to contemplate the way in which your activities may be affecting global warming.
How the Energy You Use Contributes to Global Warming
By: EnviroCitizen
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