What Is Global Warming?

 

What Is Global Warming?

Globalwarming is the phenomenon of a gradual increase in the temperature near the earth’s surface. This phenomenon has been observed over the past one or two centuries. This change has disturbed the climatic pattern of the earth. However, the concept of global warming is quite controversial but the scientists have provided relevant data in support of the fact that the temperature of the earth is rising constantly.

 

There are several causes of global warming, which have a negative effect on humans, plants and animals. These causes may be natural or might be the outcome of human activities. In order to curb the issues, it is very important to understand the negative impacts of global warming.

Within the earth's atmosphere, accumulating greenhouse gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are the gases within the atmosphere that absorb and emit heat radiation. Increasing or decreasing amounts of greenhouse gases within the atmosphere act to either hold in or release more of the heat from the sun.

Our atmosphere is getting hotter, more turbulent, and more unpredictable because of the “boiling and churning” effect caused by the heat-trapping greenhouse gases within the upper layers of our atmosphere. With each increase of carbon, methane, or other greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, our local weather and global climate is further agitated, heated, and “boiled.”

Global warming is gauged by the increase in the average global temperature of the Earth. Along with our currently increasing average global temperature, some parts of the Earth may actually get colder while other parts get warmer—hence the idea of average global temperature. Greenhouse gas-caused atmospheric heating and agitation also increase the unpredictability of the weather and climate, and dramatically increase the severity, scale, and frequency of storms, droughts, wildfires, and extreme temperatures.

Global warming can reach levels of irreversibility, and increasing levels of global warming can eventually reach an extinction level where humanity and all life on earth will end. In this book, irreversible global warming is defined as a continuum of increasing temperature that causes the global climate to rapidly change until those higher temperatures becomes irreversible on practical human time scales. The eventual temperature range associated with triggering and marking the beginning of the irreversible global warming processes is an increase in average global temperature of 2.2°-4° Celsius (4°-7.2° Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. 

 

Extinction level global warming is defined in this book as temperatures exceeding preindustrial levels by 5-6° Celsius (9-10.8° Fahrenheit) or the extinction of all planetary life, or the eventual loss of our atmosphere. If our atmosphere is also lost, this is referred to as runaway global warming. The result would be similar to what is thought to have happened to Venus 4 billion years ago, resulting in a carbon-rich atmosphere and minimum surface temperatures of 462 °C.

How long carbon dioxide remains in our atmosphere

Carbon dioxide is currently the most important greenhouse gas related to global warming. For the longest time, our scientists believed that once in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide remains there for about 100 years. New research shows that is not true.  75% of that carbon will not disappear for thousands of years. The other 25% stays forever. We are creating a serious global warming crisis that will last far longer than we ever thought possible.

 

"The lifetime of fossil fuel CO2 in the atmosphere is a few centuries, plus 25 percent that lasts essentially forever. The next time you fill your tank, reflect upon this...[the climatic impacts of releasing fossil fuel CO2 to the atmosphere will last longer than Stonehenge… Longer than time capsules, longer than nuclear waste, far longer than the age of human civilization so far."

Overfishing

The globe currently heavily depends on the fish business because fish is one of the primary sources of protein for humans. There is currently less marine life since fewer people are buying and eating fish. Overfishing has also caused a lack of diversity within the water.

 

Marine ecosystems are facing a huge problem: overfishing. This happens when too many fish are taken from the ocean, more than can be replaced naturally.

How carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is tracked  

Atmospheric carbon from fossil fuel burning is the main human-caused factor in the escalating global warming we are experiencing now. The current level of carbon in our atmosphere is tracked using what is called the Keeling curve. The Keeling curve measures atmospheric carbon in parts per million (ppm).

 

Each year, many measurements are taken at Mauna Loa, Hawaii to determine the parts per million (ppm) of carbon in the atmosphere at that time. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution around 1880, before we began fossil fuel burning, our atmospheric carbon ppm level was at about 270. Here is the current Keeling curve graph for where we are today:

As you can see, we are not doing very well. In later chapters, you will learn what this exponentially rising carbon means to your future. You also will see other graphs that will show you how today’s atmospheric carbon levels compare to those of our near and far distant past (hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of years ago).

 

No matter what you hear in the media, if the total carbon ppm level is not going down or carbon’s average ppm level per year is not falling or at least slowing its steep increase, we are not making any significant progress on resolving the escalating global warming emergency. Total atmospheric carbon and carbon’s average ppm level per year are the mostdependable measurements of our progress and a predictor of what will be happening with global warming and its many consequences.

Industrialization

The pollution brought on by industry is referred to as industrial pollution. The industrial revolution brought about increased industrialization and technological advancement. This, however, caused significant pollution of our planet's air, land, and water.

 

Pollution from industry is one of the worst types. This is because the smoke released into the air contributes to ozone depletion. It also affects the health of animals and humans, as well as global warming.

 Power plants

In a study published in Environmental Research Letters, 5% of the 29,000 power plants surveyed were responsible for 73% of the global electricity generation industry’s C02 emissions. These “hyper-polluting” power plants, as the study calls them, are found in places like East Asia, India, and Europe. Inefficiency is a big reason. Coal plants in particular are a problem. There are around 8,500 coal power plants in operation globally, but they produce ⅕ of total greenhouse gases. This makes them the largest single source. Smithsonian Magazine names a 27-year-old power plant in Poland, which produces 20% of Poland’s electricity using brown coal, an especially “dirty” form of coal. Globally, coal plants generate over ⅓ of all electricity, so we need to turn to other sources quickly.

Agriculture

According to The World Bank, agriculture is a big driver of climate change. It produces between 19-29% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions are likely to rise due to the demand for more food production to feed the world’s growing population. Where are the problems originating from? Methane is a big concern since it is 26 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Methane is released from livestock and rice production. About ⅓ of agriculture’s global methane emissions come from livestock. Rice grown in rice paddies also produces a lot – about 11% of agriculture’s emissions. Nitrous oxide – which is 300 times stronger than CO2 – is also a problem! 60% of human-caused N2O emissions come from agriculture. It’s produced after croplands are fertilized and after crop residues get burned.

Vehicles and transport

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, transportation is responsible for around ⅓ of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions. Transport includes more than cars. At 9%, airplanes make up the third-largest source of emissions in the United States. Globally, the aviation industry will likely produce around 43 metric gigatons of CO2 through 2050. Globally, ships release almost 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. With expanding international trade, it’s expected that ship and boat emissions could increase 250% by 2050. To reduce emissions from vehicles and other transport, the world needs solutions like increased technology efficiency, changes in how people travel and move goods, and lower-carbon fuel sources.

Waste  

Humans are creating more waste than ever before. This is due to the extensive use of packaging and the short life cycle of products.

 

The majority of items, waste and packaging aren't recyclable, which means it ends up in landfills. Waste in landfills decomposes, releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere. These gases contribute to global warming.

Deforestation

Deforestation is the clearing of woodland and forest. This is often done to extract wood or to make space for farming or ranching.

 

Deforestation contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. It is responsible for approximately 25% of them. This, combined with land use changes and agriculture, makes it a considerable factor in climate change.

 

Forests and trees are essential for absorbing carbon dioxide and creating oxygen. When they are destroyed, the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere.

 

Natural deforestation happens often. It is usually caused by wildfires. These fires can have a bigger effect on the environment because of the fumes they release.

Landfills

Landfills present serious risks to the environment and human health. Our old friend methane is a big reason why. As organic waste (like food waste) sits in landfills, the decomposition process releases methane gas. Since 2016, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Scientific Aviation, a leak-detection firm, have performed flyovers over landfills in California. Commissioned by air-quality regulators, the years-long survey revealed that “super-emitters” landfills were responsible for 43% of measured methane emissions. This puts landfills above fossil-fuel and agricultural sectors in the state. Results also showed that the ten biggest culprits were averaging 2.27% over the federal estimates of methane emission. This is just one example of the impact landfills have on global warming. Considering how many landfills there are in the world, they deserve more attention.

Offshore drilling

Offshore drilling is the extraction of petroleum in rock formations beneath the seabed. Companies drill wellbores. Measuring the impact of offshore drilling is extremely important because of how many offshore platforms there are. For a while, offshore drilling was considered efficient with limited methane leakage. However, a study by scientists from Princeton University found that extracting oil and natural gas in the North Sea released a lot more methane than previously estimated. The survey found that on average, methane leakage during normal operations was more than double the reported emissions. Offshore drilling also threatens ocean health and human health with spills and pollution. Burning the fuels extracted through offshore drilling increases greenhouse gas emissions, as well.

Producing Food

Producing food causes emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in various ways.

 

Many factors affect the environmental impact of the food we buy and eat. As mentioned above these include the farming methods, where food is grown, the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and what is fed to our livestock.

 

All this makes food production a major contributor to climate change. And greenhouse gas emissions also come from packaging and distributing food.

 

With the rising interest in global issues, like human rights activism and climate change action, more people are turning to podcasts as a quick and easy source of information. Here, we explore our top 10 podcasts that will help you understand the topic of sustainability a bit better.