GLOBAL WARMING

Image from http://www.androidworld.com/prod60.htm

Global warming is the increase of earth’s temperature in the atmosphere and sea level.
The sun’s energy heats up the earth and causes the weather and climate to change.

The effects of the warming can both harm the environment and the life of humans. The
warming of earth’s atmosphere can cause important changes to the earth. Global warming
can cause the sea level to rise because of the melted ice glaciers. When the water gets too
warm, it would increase and cause coastal cities to flood. Global warming can also lead
to dangerous storms such as hurricanes, droughts, and tornados.

GREEN HOUSE GASES

Gases trap in energy and keep earth’s temperature steady. Greenhouse effects add carbon
dioxide to earth’s atmosphere, which makes earth’s surface warmer. The greenhouse
effect causes global warming, but without it, living things The greenhouse gases (GHG)
such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other on earth would also be in danger. The heat
of global warming melting ice caps and glaciers can cause the sea level to increase.

Greenhouse gases trap heat when sunlight passes through the atmosphere and warms the
earth. Heat rising from the ground warms the air and the GHGs stop the heat from
escaping, so the earth becomes warm.

Greenhouse gases are made of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons. “They are all natural gases, but extra greenhouses gases
can be made by humans from pollution” (Global Warming 2). Extra greenhouse gases
are made when more carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and
chlorofluorocarbons are put into the air more than it should be. This happens by burning
fossil fuels, deforestation, and animal waste that leave behind methane. “The greenhouse
earth is surrounded by a shield of atmospheric gases, rather than a glass or a plastic
cover” (Global Warming Impact 1).

The Gases in The Atmosphere

Human actions played a big role in global warming some examples are trap in heat..
Carbons pollutions, sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, and poisonous substances are all air
pollutions. An example is car burning gas fuels, volcano gases, or deforestation. The
greenhouse gases are made up of many gases combine and water vaporization, but carbon
dioxide is the main one. The greenhouse effects are not the plant houses that you use
during winter, but it does react in a similar way. When heat from the sun travels down to
earth, the greenhouse gases would trap in the heat and cause the earth to get warmer and
the ozone layer to be broken down.

Besides carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrous oxide are
contributing to the greenhouse effect. Agriculture is one of the major causes of methane
though coal-mining actions, and oil explorations. Plants that burned down during land
clearance also release methane into the air. Farming activity has to increase if the world’s
population increases, and due to this, the level of methane will grow. As the global heat
increases, large amounts of methane in the frozen northern Tundra and seabed will be
released.

Chlorofluorocarbons are found in many things such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and
aerosols, which are a very effective in the greenhouse gases. The CFCs molecule is
10,000 times stronger than C02 in trapping heat in the air and has lived in the atmosphere
for 110 years.

POLLUTION

Just like carbon dioxide, natural and human processes create nitrous oxide. Human
resources represent about forty-five percent of the cause. Some examples of how humans
contribute to global warming are: power stations burning fossil fuel, using nitrogenous
manure, burning rainforests, and the manure of human and animals. All these things
combine add up to six percent of methane in the air.

Graph of released CO2 in the Atmosphere

 Graph from http://www.androidworld.com/prod60.htm

GLOBAL WARMING HOME PAGE / ABOUT US / REFERENCE / INTERACTIVE / GALLERY / GUEST BOOK / SURVEY
• WHAT IS GLOBAL
WARMING
DEFORESTATION
CAUSES
Trees are very important in the global
• GREEN HOUSE carbon cycle. They remove CO2 from
GASES
the air more then any other things.
• POLLUTION
Trees absorb CO2 through the process of
• DEFORESTATION
photosynthesis. An acre of forest can
absorb more CO2 than an acre of
EFFECTS
cropland or grassland. One tree can
• CLIMATE
absorb about 13 pounds of CO2 a year.
CHANGE An acre of forest absorbs about 2.8 tons
• OZONE LAYER of CO2 a year. Trees take in CO2 and
• HEALTH give off oxygen. When trees are burn or
cut down, the carbon that was locked in
PREVENTIONS their structure is release into the
atmosphere as CO2. Today, since there
• HOW YOU CAN are fewer forests they can’t absorb all
HELP
the CO2 created by humans. Everyday
THEN AND NOW
over 5500 acres of forests are destroyed,
and over 50 million acres a year. Due to
• PAST
growth in population and technology,
• PRESENT
the level of CO2 in the air has increased.
Planting and protecting tress will help
Image obtained from Kathy Thao reduce global warming.
• FUTURE

Causes for Deforestation

Technology is responsible for massively damaging Earth’s resources. Global warming causes
business to grow because crops need warm climate to grow, but if it’s too hot then it could reduce
agriculture. In the tropical countries there are problems because of deforestation. People have been
cutting down rainforests for farming. If deforestation of forests continue then rainforests will
disappear within 100 years, causing global climate change, extinction of plants and animals on earth
and unknown effects.

Source: Parks, Peggy J. Global Warming. Farmingtion Hills: Lucent Books, 2004.
The Effects of Global Warming . 12 Jan. 1996. 26 July 2006
<http://www.geocities.com/‌TimesSquare/‌1848/‌global.html>.
Juarez, Micheal. “Threat Of Climate Change.” Eco Bridge. 26 July 2006
<http://www.ecobridge.org/>.
THE SHY BUNCH HOME PAGE / ABOUT US / REFERENCE / INTERACTIVE / GALLERY / GUEST BOOK / SURVEY
 CLIMATE CHANGE

Acid Rain

Acid rain has acids that fall from the

atmosphere. An acid deposit has two parts: wet
and dry. Too much pollution in the atmosphere
can cause acid rain. Wet deposits are acidic
rain, fog, and snow. When acidic water flows
through the ground, it affects many plants and
animals. The strength of the effects depend on
how much acid is in the water.
Image obtained from Kathy Thao
Scientists discover that acid rain is mostly cause by sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides
(NO2). Acid rain happens when water, oxygen, and other chemicals that form acidic
compounds react with the atmosphere. Sunlight increases most of these reactions. Acid rain
affects forests, soils, fishes, materials, human health and other living things. Acid rain causes
your visibility to decrease.

Dry deposits are acidic gases and particles. About half of the acidity that falls from the
atmosphere to earth is dry deposits. Winds blow acidic particles and gases into buildings,
cars, houses, and trees. Dry deposit gases and particles can be wash off trees and other
surfaces by rain. When this happens the acid that was wash off adds to the acid rain so the
rain gets more acidic. Prevailing winds blow these compounds everywhere.
 Weather

In the northern continental areas, the summer

will be drier because of the absence of snow,
and more cloudless summers, which also
causes extensive evaporation in the ground
moisture. In the southern hemisphere they
will have less moisture, so lakes and rivers
will get smaller. If there were storms by
global warming then insurance industry
would go bankrupt. The insurance industries
are now trying to come up with plans that
would cover economic losses from climatic
changes. The cost for countries to come up
with plans to reduce CO2 and other gases
would be enormous. Since the industrialized
nations won’t take actions in reducing CO2, it
will cause global warming to worsen.

Image obtained from Kathy Thao

Today our air is mostly made of nitrogen and oxygen. Global warming causes cloudy winter
nights to be warmer than clear winter nights. The earth absorbs 70% of the sun’s energy and
30% is reflected back to space. Earth is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is warmer than the
clouds around us. Clouds and greenhouse gases are what keep the earth warm. When the
clouds are warm they reflect the energy to earth, making the earth’s surface warmer. This is
what causes the greenhouse effect.

Tempreature

As the temperature rises, it causes the liberation of carbon dioxide and methane to increase
global warming. Higher temperature evaporates a lot of water in the air creating more clouds
into the atmosphere. The clouds trap in the heat from the sun, and as it gets warmer, more
clouds are produced.

Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency. “Acid Rain.” The Environmental
Protection Agency. 1 Mar. 2006. 25 July 2006 <http://www.epa.gov/‌airmarkets/‌arp/>.

OZONE LAYER

For centuries, the ozone layers have protected our world from the sun’s ultraviolet
radiation and years ago the earth could withstand the heat before humans developed
harmful chemicals. As humans developed technology, the ozone layer will get broken
down, by such chemicals as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). In1985, scientists discovered
that a hole has appeared in the ozone layer above Antarctica. Without the ozone layer,
humans would absorb UV radiation, which can cause dangerous illnesses.

In September 1985 the hole in the ozone layer was 4.6 million square miles wide. In
September 1998 it has increased to 10.5 million square miles, and it was 11 million
square miles wide in September 2000.

The earth’s atmosphere is made up of four separate layers. The layer closest to the earth
is troposphere, then the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the thermosphere. The sun’s
heat is absorbed by land, air, and oceans, which takes about 30 to 40 percent of the heat
then the rest of it is given off back to space.

Humans’ heath depends on a nice

climate. Bad temperatures could
cause loss of life. Hot temperatures
can increase air and water
pollutions, which can cause to
harm humans. The worst diseases
can cause harm to occur in warm
areas. There are many of reasons
why hot temperature causes the
number of death to increase; people
with heart problems are vulnerable
because their cardiovascular
system must work harder to keep
their body cool during hot weather.
Heat exhaustion and respiratory
problems may increase.
Image obtained from Kathy Thao
High temperatures also increase the concentration of ozone at ground level. The ozone
layer in the atmosphere prevents harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching earth’s
surface, but in the lower layer, ozone is a harmful pollutant. Ozone damages lung tissue
and people can have chest pains, nausea, and pulmonary congestion. If a warming increase
by 4 degrees Fahrenheit the ozone concentrations could increase by 5 percent.
 Hospital admissions show that death rates increase
during hot days. And it mostly happens to old or very
young people living in cities. In July 1995, a heat
wave killed over 700 people living in Chicago. Studies
say that in Atlanta, for example, an increase of 2
degrees Fahrenheit would increase heat-related deaths
from 78 to 247 people per year. If people were to
install air conditioning at home, then the death of
people would decrease.

Image obtained from Kathy Thao

Deaths due to heat are higher than deaths due to cold weather. In the Untied States, about
1,000 people died from cold weather, but twice that much died from hot weather. Global
warming may increase diseases especially those diseases that appear in warm areas.
Diseases spread by mosquitoes and other insects may become more common because
warm temperatures help them breed better. Public health programs could avoid this impact
because it could help treat the spread of infections and other health problems

What is global warming?

Global warming is the process of the earth's atmosphere heating up.

(The atmosphere is the air that covers our planet like a blanket.) Over
the last 100 years, the average temperature of earth's atmosphere
has gone up 1° Fahrenheit. The weather has not changed exactly the
same way in every area of the planet. But, scientists think that the
rise in average temperature is already affecting the earth's climate.

What is the difference between climate and weather?

Weather is the word that describes conditions in the atmosphere (such as

temperature, precipitation, wind and cloudiness) at a specific time for a specific
place. For example, when someone asks, "What's the weather like outside?" he or
she wants to know what is going on in a certain area at that moment.

Climate is what you get when you summarize the weather for a long period of time.
Even though California might have rainy weather one day, its average weather over
the entire year is still dry and mild. Scientists who study global warming look at the
big picture. They look at how rising temperatures will affect the earth's climate.
 What causes global warming?

Many scientists now believe that global warming is

caused by human activities. Cutting down trees,
producing more trash, and polluting the environment are
some of the reasons that the temperature has gone up.
Many scientists believe that the biggest causes of global
warming are new human technologies that release
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

What is the effect of global warming?

With more heat trapped on Earth, the planet will become warmer, which
means the weather all over Earth will change. For example, summers will
get hotter, and winters too. This may seem a good idea, but the
conditions we are living in are perfect for life, and a large rise in
temperature could be terrible for us and for any other living thing on
Earth.

The effect of a change in the weather on plant growth may lead to some
countries not having enough food. Brazil, parts of Africa, south-east Asia
and China will be affected the most and many people could suffer from
hunger.

Many animals and plants may not be able to cope with these changes
and could die. This could cause the loss of some animal and plant species
in certain areas of the world or everywhere on Earth.

In other parts of the world, the effects will be different, some places will
become drier and others will be wetter. Although most areas will be
warmer, some areas will become cooler. There may be many storms,
floods and drought, but we do not know which areas of the world will be
affected.

Why are greenhouse gases a problem today?

The greenhouse effect is not new. Carbon dioxide, nitrous

oxide and methane have been keeping the earth warm for
millions of years. In the past, nature produced just the right
amount of greenhouse gases to keep earth at a balanced
temperature.

Today, most scientists are pretty sure that the rising

temperature can't be blamed on nature. Ever since the
industrial revolution in the 1700s, humans have relied on
machines for daily life. And many of those machines (like
cars) give off, or emit, a lot of greenhouse gases. An
increase in the release of greenhouse gases from human
activities is throwing nature off balance.

How is global warming affecting the world?

 The climate is a very complicated thing, but many scientists agree that
the rising atmospheric temperature has already damaged the
environment. Sheets of ice, called glaciers, are melting in Antarctica and
other parts of the globe. As glaciers break off and melt into the oceans,
they are adding warm water to the oceans and causing the sea level to
rise.

Over the last 100 years, the sea level has risen 6-8 inches around the
world. That means that land along the coasts is beginning to disappear
under water. Bigger and warmer oceans are also adding to other
weather problems caused by pollution in the atmosphere. Some places
have received more rain, others have had bigger storms and a few
areas in the world have experienced unusual droughts.

If the warming gets worse, as scientists expect, there may be some

kinds of plants and animals that become extinct (disappear completely)
because they can’t move to new homes. There may be more storms and
floods. Sea level may rise so much that people have to move away from
the coasts. Some areas may become too dry for farming.

What can I do about global warming?

You don’t have to wait until you are grown to do something about global warming.
Scientists agree that the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming. Since these
fuels are burned for energy, and everyone uses energy, everyone can help stop global
warming just by using less energy.

Think about the things you do each day that use energy. The lights in your house use
electricity. The TV and computer use electricity. The washing machine, dishwasher
and dryer all use gas or electricity. Every time you ride in your car, it uses gasoline.

There are some simple things that you can do to help stop global warming:

1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Use fluorescent bulbs in your room.

2. Turn off your computer or the TV when you’re not using it. Unplug chargers
when not in use.

3. Wait until you have a lot of clothes to wash before using the washing machine.
Don’t use the machine for one item just because it’s your favorite shirt.
4. Take shorter showers. Heating water uses energy.

5. Close the blinds on a hot day if the sun is shining in. Dress lightly
instead of turning up the air conditioning. Or use a fan.

6. Dress warmly inside your house when it’s cold, instead of turning
up the heat.

7. Offer to help your parents keep the air filters on your AC and
furnace clean.

8. Walk short distances instead of asking for a ride in a car.

9. Plant a tree.