Arctic Ice Cap Effect
Although global temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has augmented at its fastest rate in recorded history. The emission of greenhouse gasses such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Nitrous Oxide (N2O) and Methane (CH4) render the Earth’s atmosphere more transparent to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted and reflected from the planet's surface (NASA Earth Observatory). With this extra heat trapped within the atmosphere, the temperature of the surface of the planet increases very slightly over hundreds of years. However these small incremental increases in the Earth’s surface temperature accumulates to an amount which can severely effect the climate of the planet.
The greenhouse …show more content…
This seemingly insignificant figure could possibly inundate low lying coastal towns and cities, costing millions of dollars to relocate and compensate for the damage caused by the sea level rise. Further adding to the consequences, such a sea level rise could cause extensive erosion of the continents, islands and possibly other ice caps. The extra infrared radiation captured by atmosphere through the greenhouse effect is transferred into the Arctic ice caps as potential energy where the water (H2O) molecules vibrate faster and break their bonds due to the process of latent heat, where the temperature of the ice is prevented from falling or rising until the bonds break and a state change occurs. Thus increasing sea …show more content…
NASA has stated that over the past forty years that the full size of the ice cap has decline by 9% every decade. Without the bright surface of the sea ice to reflect radiation back into space, global warming will soar as the planet absorbs the full complement of solar radiation heating ocean temperatures. Greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow as our planet is doomed to the same grim fate of Venus. All simulated forecasts for the future of our planet by NASA have pointed to greenhouse gases being the biggest world issue for the next century, and without action now, humanity and the planet will not survive for
The greenhouse …show more content…
This seemingly insignificant figure could possibly inundate low lying coastal towns and cities, costing millions of dollars to relocate and compensate for the damage caused by the sea level rise. Further adding to the consequences, such a sea level rise could cause extensive erosion of the continents, islands and possibly other ice caps. The extra infrared radiation captured by atmosphere through the greenhouse effect is transferred into the Arctic ice caps as potential energy where the water (H2O) molecules vibrate faster and break their bonds due to the process of latent heat, where the temperature of the ice is prevented from falling or rising until the bonds break and a state change occurs. Thus increasing sea …show more content…
NASA has stated that over the past forty years that the full size of the ice cap has decline by 9% every decade. Without the bright surface of the sea ice to reflect radiation back into space, global warming will soar as the planet absorbs the full complement of solar radiation heating ocean temperatures. Greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow as our planet is doomed to the same grim fate of Venus. All simulated forecasts for the future of our planet by NASA have pointed to greenhouse gases being the biggest world issue for the next century, and without action now, humanity and the planet will not survive for