This paper looks at the current state of global warming and some of the consequences we face if we fail to address this international problem. Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat trapping property of these gases is undisputed. The dramatic increase in global temperatures over the past century is unprecedented in the history of the planet.
Global Warming
Climate and Weather
Local or regional climate is the measure of the conditions of the atmosphere in a specific area over a long period of time while global climate is a measure of the conditions of the atmosphere over a long time period worldwide. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time in a specific area or region. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) climate is composition of such factors as average precipitation, temperature, humidity, sunshine, wind velocity and phenomenon such as fog, frost, hail storms and other measures of weather that occur over a long period of time in a particular place (Gutro, 2005).
Evidence of Global Warming
The National Academy of Sciences has found that the Earth's surface temperature has risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past century and that this warming trend has accelerated during the past two decades. Despite the fact that there is strong evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities there is still some debate about the role of natural cycles and processes (Gutro, 2005).
Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat trapping property of these gases is undisputed although uncertainties exist about exactly how Earth's climate responds to them. According to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program factors such as aerosols, land use change and others may play important roles in climate change, but their influence is highly uncertain at the present time (Gutro, 2005).
A recently published study of 11,000 years of climate temperatures indicates the planet is reversing from a near record cooling trend to a heat spike. Using fossils of tiny marine organisms to reconstruct global temperatures back to the last ice-age researchers found the Earth was cooling for several thousand years until an unparalleled reversal in the twentieth century. This may be a sign that modern-day global warming is not a natural condition but a consequence of rising carbon dioxide since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. According to Shaun Marcott of Oregon State University the decade from 1900 to 1910 was one of the coolest in 11,300 years, yet the decade from 2000 to 2010 was one of the warmest. Global thermometer records only date back to 1880, nonetheless those records show the last decade was the hottest for this more recent time period (Borenstein, 2013).
Further evidence of climate change can be seen in what scientists call an irreversible ice-melt of Canadian glaciers. Canadian glaciers are the world's third largest store of ice after Antarctica and Greenland. Jan Lenaerts, of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, believes this thaw is unstoppable because the thaw of white glaciers exposes dark-colored tundra that soaks up more of the sun's heat and further accelerates the melt. The study relied on satellite data over the past decade to create a model to project the rate of ice melt. Findings indicate a 20% loss of volume by the end of this century. This in combination with the thawing in Antarctica and Greenland promises to raise the level of the sea from 18 to 59 cm this century or more if the thaw of the vast ice sheets around the world should accelerate (Doyle, 2013).
Natural and Anthropogenic Climate Change
Richard Hilderman (2011) asserts that though some believe the current global warming trend is part of the natural cycle and there is nothing to worry about scientific data does not support this hypothesis. It is true that over geological time the Earth has experienced higher temperatures than currently see however there are two important differences between natural past cycles and the current global warming trend. Previous global warming trends evolved over thousands of years, a significant amount of time. The current trend is evolving much faster. Secondly, humans were not a contributing factor in earlier natural cycles.
The natural cycle is a result of orbital variations of the sun. This initial warming triggers the release of the greenhouse gasses carbon dioxide and methane. These gases then amplify global warming. Natural climate change occurs because of orbital changes and green house gases. This natural cycle has been occurring for millions of years, long before humans entered the picture. The increase in global temperature over the last century is the result of human activity, chiefly the use of fossil fuel, which introduces carbon into the atmosphere. The natural cycle is being overwhelmed.
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