Module 06 Environmental Issue Project - Final Draft

GLOBAL WARMING 6

Rough Draft

Name: Rodney Wheeler

Institution: Rasmussen College

Course: G328/EVR3410 Section 02 Human Uses of the Environment

Date: 05/07/17

Current Environmental Issue: Global Warming

Introduction

Global warming refers to the relative increase in the general earth’s average surface temperature which in most cases is as a result of green house gases including emissions of carbon (IV) oxide and deforestation practices which aid in trapping heat which in turn escapes from the surface of the earth. This phenomenon is referred to as green house effect that leads to global warming.

Natural contribution to global warming

Natural conditions that lead to global warming include a collection of factors that take place within the globe and are out of human control (Crutzen, 2016). Global warming is one of the recent world climatic changes which have caused great controversies, it is generally recognized that factors such as sunspots in solar radiation has a considerable impact on global temperature.

Solar related activities have been identified to have cyclic variations. Magnetic activities in and around the sun are seen to be highly affected by variations in suns activities and this has displayed high deflection of cosmic rays which are charged particles in the galaxy originating from the explosion of stars (Kosaka, 2013). Dimming of the sun which results in drop of magnetic field, may at certain periods cause penetration of cosmic rays deeper into the solar system. Charged particles then enter the lower atmosphere in huge numbers where ionization of small particles of water take place leading to aggregation into water droplets and finally clouds. Reflection of sun energy back to space is efficiently accomplished by low thick clouds which results to a fall in global temperature.

Natural forest fires on wide areas over long periods can have considerable effects on the global temperature which is as a result of vegetation burning that causes fixation of carbon footprints and increase in the relative amount of GHG’s like chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere (Trenberth, 2014). Solar energy is then trapped by the GHG’s leading to atmospheric warming and the resultant gases lead to air pollution.

Melting of the permafrost may be triggered by various factors among them being volcanic eruptions and forest fires. This phenomenon leads to large scale introduction of GHG’s into the atmosphere.

Human contribution to global warming

The global population has been increasing at an alarming rate in the recent past. This has caused the shortage of resources such as fuel, water, and food as the large population causes strain on the scarce resources available (15 Current Environmental Problems That Our World is Facing - Conserve Energy Future. (2017). Moreover, the recent agricultural practices involving the use of pesticides, insecticides, and chemically treated fertilizers has lead to the increased environmental pollution more so the land surface. The high population has also resulted in the excess consumption of fossil fuels hence resulting in the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (Wang, 2014). These gases then cause global warming and change in the climate. As a solution, men have started using the renewable sources of energy such as the wind, solar and geothermal power to reduce pollution cases. Family planning initiatives are also being implemented to regulate the population and reduce strain on the resources.

Human beings have also undertaken serious deforestation practices to create space for settlement. Forests exhibit regulation services to the environment by balancing carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the atmosphere (Cook, 2016). The cutting of trees has caused an imbalance in the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the atmosphere thereby causing high temperatures and setting in drought conditions which deprive the society of food (15 Current Environmental Problems That Our World is Facing - Conserve Energy Future. (2017). As a solution to this problem, some governments have established reforestation programs to replace the cut-down trees and reclaim the real natural climate that existed.

Pollution by fossils fuels is considered as one of the major contributor to global warming. Different gasses are released everyday by billions of vehicles. This results to an increase in earth average temperature. Burning of fossil fuels releases gases in the air the major one been carbon dioxide.

In conclusion, global warming is a major current environmental issue that threatens both the environment and humanity at large and therefore appropriate measures should be taken to curb the prevailing condition. Among them are control of adverse pollution and related activities that accelerate pollution rates, curbing deforestation through enactment of laws to govern forests and allocation of fee to industries that emit highly toxic gases and substances that enhance pollution.

References

15 Current Environmental Problems That Our World is Facing - Conserve Energy Future. (2017). Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved 5 May 2017, from http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/15-current-environmental-problems.php

Cook, J., Oreskes, N., Doran, P. T., Anderegg, W. R., Verheggen, B., Maibach, E. W., ... & Nuccitelli, D. (2016). Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters, 11(4), 048002.

Crutzen, P. J., Mosier, A. R., Smith, K. A., & Winiwarter, W. (2016). N2O release from agro-biofuel production negates global warming reduction by replacing fossil fuels. In Paul J. Crutzen: A Pioneer on Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Change in the Anthropocene (pp. 227-238). Springer International Publishing.

Kosaka, Y., & Xie, S. P. (2013). Recent global-warming hiatus tied to equatorial Pacific surface cooling. Nature, 501(7467), 403-407.

Trenberth, K. E., Dai, A., Van Der Schrier, G., Jones, P. D., Barichivich, J., Briffa, K. R., & Sheffield, J. (2014). Global warming and changes in drought. Nature Climate Change, 4(1), 17-22.

Wang, T., Lefevre, S., Iversen, N. K., Findorf, I., Buchanan, R., & McKenzie, D. J. (2014). Anaemia only causes a small reduction in the upper critical temperature of sea bass: is oxygen delivery the limiting factor for tolerance of acute warming in fishes? Journal of Experimental Biology, 217(24), 4275-4278.