Global Warming

Global warming
You have probably heard about the phrase “global warming” hundreds of times. But what exactly does global warming means?
Global warming is not about having a hot day or week or month in one part of the world. It has to do with the average temperature worldwide. Simply put, global warming is the unusual rapid increase in earth’s average temperature worldwide. The warming of the earth began in the mid 1800’s. In the beginning it was small and very slow but then in the 1980’s the earth’s average temperature began to rise more rapidly and it has been climbing ever since. Overall earth’s temperature has risen 0.8°C (1.4°F) since about 1900.
Scientists often use the term "climate change" instead of global warming. This is because as the Earth's average temperature climbs, winds and ocean currents move heat around the globe in ways that can cool some areas, warm others, and change the amount of rain and snow falling. As a result, the climate changes differently in different areas.

Causes Scientists have spent decades figuring out the causes of global warming. They looked at the natural cycles and events that are known to influence the climate but they were not able to explain it alone. The only way they found to explain is to include greenhouse gases emitted by humans. They formed a group of scientists called IPCC or INTERNATIONAL PANEL on CLIMATE CHANGE. They meet up every few years to review the latest scientific finding and write a report summarizing all the facts that are known about global warming. The first thing they observed was there are several greenhouse gases that were responsible for warming and human emit them in a variety of ways. These gases include water vapor, nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. Most of these gases come from combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for most warming is carbon dioxide. Other contributors include methane from landfills and agriculture especially from the digestive system of grazing animals, nitrous oxides from fertilizers, gases used for refrigerants and industrial processes and the loss of forest that would store CO2.
Different greenhouse gases have different heat abilities. Some of them can even trap more heat than CO2. Methane traps 23 times as much heat as carbon dioxide does. Nitrous oxide is 300 times better at heat trapping than carbon dioxide.
Green house effect: -

The greenhouse effect is the warming that happens when certain gases in earth’s atmosphere traps heat. These gases let in light but keep heat from escaping, like the glass walls of a greenhouse.
First, sunlight shines onto the Earth's surface, where it is absorbed and then radiates back into the atmosphere as heat. In the atmosphere, “greenhouse” gases trap some of this heat, and the rest escapes into space. The more greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped.
A stronger greenhouse effect is what global warming is all about. Scientists are convinced that most of earth’s recent warming is the result of too much of a good thing. It is happening largely because a huge amount of greenhouse gases are present in the atmosphere. All those heat trapping molecules are turning up earth’s thermostat.
Among all the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide is the biggest culprit in global warming. People do many things that release carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. By far the most significant is the burning of fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide and global warming: - since the industrial revolution began, levels of greenhouse gases have increased. So has the earth’s temperature. Scientists know this is not a coincidence. The link between greenhouse gases especially carbon dioxide and global warming is very strong.
In 2007, climate scientists worldwide agreed that greenhouse gases that human activities are adding to the atmosphere are intensifying earth’s greenhouse effect. They are raising our plant’s temperature and more warming is on the way.
Turning up the heat: - you flip a switch and the light comes on. You turn on the television; you heat something in microwave or play a game on computer. Think of how many times you use electricity everyday. Where does the electricity come from? Most of it comes from power plants. And most power plants burn coal to generate electricity. The more electricity people use the more fossil fuels are to be burned to generate more electricity. This result is the release of carbon dioxide in a huge amount in the atmosphere.
Powering a way of life: - Cars, buses and trucks run on gasoline of diesel fuel. Both come from oil, another fossil fuel. Many houses, malls, schools, hospitals and offices have heating systems that burn oil or natural gas. Natural gas is a fossil fuel too.
Farmers planted and harvested the grains in your breakfast cereal with machines that burn diesel fuel. Factories powered by coal or oil made the package for the cereal. Trucks burning gasoline or diesel fuel transported the packages to the grocery store. And the stores bright lights, coolers, freezers and cash registers all run on electricity.
Example of greenhouse effect:
It’s like getting into a car that has been parked outside on a hot sunny day with the windows rolled up.

EFFECTS
The effects of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. They’re happening right now. Signs are appearing all over, and some of them are surprising. The heat is not only melting glaciers and sea ice; it’s also shifting precipitation patterns and setting animals on the move.
Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening. * Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. * Researcher has tracked the decline of the penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years. * Sea level rise became faster over the last century. * Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas. * Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. * Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.
Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues. * Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). * Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger. * Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active. * Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years. * Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either. * Some diseases will spread such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.
Solutions
Global warming can be solved on three levels: * Personal level * National level * Global level
Personal level: * Turn off electronics when not in use * Take shorter showers * Walk rather than driving * Use energy saving light bulbs
National level:
Pass legislation to regulate pollution from industrial companies, protect the environment, and increase efficiency.
Global level: * Look for renewable source of Energy * Transition to Low Carbon Global Economy