An Introduction to Global Warming
Global Warming is a problem that we face today and future generations will have to deal with. It is fairly self-explanatory. It is the gradual increase in the temperature of Earth’s Atmosphere. This increase can be attributed to greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gasses are gasses that trap the sun’s warming radiation within the atmosphere. The idea behind Global Warming is that humans have had a major impact on atmospheric temperature. By looking at the natural cycles on Earth and then adding humans into the equation we can see how much of an impact we truly have.
To better understand Global Warming, one needs to understand more about greenhouse gasses. The greenhouse gas that is most often pointed out is carbon dioxide. It is the main product of human machinery and the human body. It is also a fact that carbon dioxide is also a product of many natural occurrences on the Earth. Respiration is one of many natural processes that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Respiration is the breathing mechanism of animals that takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
Photosynthesis is a cycle that many people are familiar with. It is how plants survive on Earth. In the simplest terms photosynthesis is the conversion of sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy for the plant. The plant then releases oxygen as a byproduct.
Respiration and photosynthesis make a balanced carbon circle. They are both natural processes that have balanced each other for many millions of years. Although humans are a player in this process, it’s what humans have added to the equation that is shifting the balance. Human innovation is the simple answer for the main problem behind Global Warming.
Humans have reshaped the world for our own liking in many ways. We have flattened land for agriculture, altered food chains in the oceans, and paved roads throughout the world. We have also burned oil, natural gas, and coal. All of which releases greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Some causes of continued release of greenhouse gasses are raising sea levels, altered global jet stream, and ecosystem changes which culminate with the eventual extinction of some animals.
It’s obvious that the impact of humans make the carbon cycle, mentioned earlier, unbalanced. With the problems we face, we need solutions and we need them soon. Yet, you can’t fix a problem without knowing the cause of the problem.
As stated earlier, the burning of oil, coal, and natural gas are the roots of global warming, but what we are burning those substances for is the real question. One of these main oil burners are cars. Cars add a huge amount of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. When a car burns off a gallon of gasoline, it also produces nineteen pounds of carbon dioxide. To put it into perspective, in 2011, there were over one billion registered cars in the US. If all of these cars used just one gallon of gas, there would be well over nineteen billion pounds of carbon dioxide pumped into the air and if you start adding time into the equation you get a ridiculous amount of gas in the air. It’s already apparent that humans don’t have just a major impact on the atmosphere. It gets worse when the realization that humans rely on cars to the point that we can’t live without them. They take us to work, school, family events, and many other places. The way humans are hinged to cars you can already see some of our impacts on our climate.
To better understand Global Warming, one needs to understand more about greenhouse gasses. The greenhouse gas that is most often pointed out is carbon dioxide. It is the main product of human machinery and the human body. It is also a fact that carbon dioxide is also a product of many natural occurrences on the Earth. Respiration is one of many natural processes that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Respiration is the breathing mechanism of animals that takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
Photosynthesis is a cycle that many people are familiar with. It is how plants survive on Earth. In the simplest terms photosynthesis is the conversion of sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy for the plant. The plant then releases oxygen as a byproduct.
Respiration and photosynthesis make a balanced carbon circle. They are both natural processes that have balanced each other for many millions of years. Although humans are a player in this process, it’s what humans have added to the equation that is shifting the balance. Human innovation is the simple answer for the main problem behind Global Warming.
Humans have reshaped the world for our own liking in many ways. We have flattened land for agriculture, altered food chains in the oceans, and paved roads throughout the world. We have also burned oil, natural gas, and coal. All of which releases greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Some causes of continued release of greenhouse gasses are raising sea levels, altered global jet stream, and ecosystem changes which culminate with the eventual extinction of some animals.
It’s obvious that the impact of humans make the carbon cycle, mentioned earlier, unbalanced. With the problems we face, we need solutions and we need them soon. Yet, you can’t fix a problem without knowing the cause of the problem.
As stated earlier, the burning of oil, coal, and natural gas are the roots of global warming, but what we are burning those substances for is the real question. One of these main oil burners are cars. Cars add a huge amount of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. When a car burns off a gallon of gasoline, it also produces nineteen pounds of carbon dioxide. To put it into perspective, in 2011, there were over one billion registered cars in the US. If all of these cars used just one gallon of gas, there would be well over nineteen billion pounds of carbon dioxide pumped into the air and if you start adding time into the equation you get a ridiculous amount of gas in the air. It’s already apparent that humans don’t have just a major impact on the atmosphere. It gets worse when the realization that humans rely on cars to the point that we can’t live without them. They take us to work, school, family events, and many other places. The way humans are hinged to cars you can already see some of our impacts on our climate.