Green house effect is the condition where thermal radiation emanating from the sun passes via the atmosphere. The earth absorbs a portion of the rays and reflects another amount back to the atmosphere (Karoly 546). The presence of green house gases, for example, carbon dioxide plus methane cause trapping of heat in the earth.
This is possible because the infrared radiations emitted from the surface cannot pass the green house gases without absorption. When green houses gases absorb the radiations they send the heat energy to the surface, and at the lower atmosphere causing the normal temperatures of the earth to elevate. Increases of green house gases to undesired levels cause conditions in the globe unbearable.
Increases of green house gases result from pollution due to human acts, for example, burning of fossil fuels (Karoly 546). In addition, industrial activities release significant amounts of the gases hence increasing their volume in the atmosphere. Large volumes of green houses in the atmosphere mean that the earth will continue to warm substantially because of the heat trapped by those gases.
As the volume of gases increase, trapping increases leading to rise of surface and atmospheric temperatures. The action of green house effect on earth is different to actual green houses because there is a flow of air in the atmosphere. This flow can lead to drops or rises of temperature due to loss of heat to the flowing air (Károly 547).
What are the main greenhouse gases?
The main green houses include carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, methane chlorofluorocarbons, Ozone and nitrous oxide (Silverstein, Virginia & Laura 20). Water vapor is the most significant green house gas. It occurs naturally and in large volumes in the atmosphere.
Water vapor causes the greatest percentage of green house effect (60-70%) and does not remain in the atmosphere because of losses through rain (Silverstein et al. 21). Carbon dioxide gas makes about 55 percent of global warming and results from human activities common in the world today.
Release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is due to combustion of fossil fuels and pollution from industries. Human acts such as felling of trees and clearing of plant cover results to rises in the levels of carbon dioxide. This occurs because plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen for human use.
Methane causes about 25 percent of global warming. It traps more heat than carbon dioxide despite its low amounts in the atmosphere. The gas occurs due to fossil fuel combustion especially in industries (Silverstein et al. 23). Nitrous oxide and CFCs contribute to global warming with nitrous oxide occurring naturally and CFCs artificially.
What is the present level of atmospheric carbon dioxide? What are the reasons for the increase?
The present levels of carbon dioxide are 360 parts per million, a 30 percent increase from 1860s. After the industrial revolution in 1850s, there was a rapid increase in the use of fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
The burning of these fuels was an attempt to generate the energy to run the factories. However, combustion of these fuels led to release of substantial amounts of pollutants including carbon dioxide (Karoly 550). As industries continued to produce chemicals, agricultural practices required those chemicals in order to increase production.
The use of fertilizers for agriculture contributed to immense atmospheric pollution causing amounts of carbon dioxide to elevate. The need for land for cultivation led to deforestation (Hernandez-Deckers & Jin-Song 5236). Agricultural activities produced other green house gases such as methane. Today, industries continue to expand, and human activities are rampant due to increased world population, the rise of pollutants is inevitable (Károly 550).
What are some predicted environmental damages if carbon dioxide emissions remain high?
The damages of carbon dioxide to the environment are evident because the gas absorbs the largest fraction of emissions. The rise of carbon dioxide is likely to change the entire global climate (Silverstein et al. 24). There are expectations of elimination of forest cover due to increases of carbon dioxide.
Increases of carbon dioxide will lead to rises in sea levels and alter agricultural production. The Low production will occur due to changes of weather patterns resulting to heavy or inadequate rain fall. Failure to reduce the amounts of carbon dioxide will cause an increase in temperature causing various parts of the world difficult to live. Climatic change will impact on various systems including human health due to intensity of sun rays (Silverstein et al. 25).
In your analysis, how certain do we need to be about future predictions before acting on this problem?
Certainty is a requirement in these predictions in order to provide appropriate measures. In order to act, it is fundamental that we understand the science that concerns these occurrences (Hernandez-Deckers & Jin-Song 5230). Since appropriate measures will entail the creation of policies, policy makers need to understand both scientific and policy aspects. This will provide an understanding of the uncertainties that involve each aspect (Hernandez-Deckers & Jin-Song 5230).
References
Hernández-Deckers, Daniel, and Jin-Song von Storch. “Impact Of The Warming Pattern On Global Energetics.” Journal Of Climate 25.15 (2012): 5223-5240. Print.
Károly, Reményi. “The Fossil-Fuels And The Global Warming.” Journal Of Energy & Power Engineering 6.4 (2012): 544-553. Print.
Silverstein, Alvin, Virginia Silverstein, and Laura S. Nunn. Global Warming. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books, 2009. Print.