Global Warming : Cause, Effect, Solution, and Conclusion

What is global warming?

Global Warming — An overall warming of the planet, based on average temperature over the entire surface.

Causes

Human causes

Sunspots

Changes in the Earth’s solar radiation levels can have some impact on the Earth’s climate. Increased solar activity can cause short-term warming cycles on the Earth.

The Wobbly Earth

As the Earth spins, it does not achieve perfect rotation. It actually wobbles slightly, thus alternately exposing the northern and southern latitudes to more and less solar radiation. This wobble in the Earth’s rotation has been causing changes in the temperature of the atmosphere for many millions of years.

The true cause of global warming is our thoughtless attitude to Nature.

Human causes

Power Plants

·         Power plants are a key contributor to the effects of global warming. Power plants that gain their electricity through the burning of fossil fuel (such as coal plants) are especially to blame for this problem. This is largely because once the fossil fuel is burned to create energy, it releases carbon dioxide.

Cars

·         Cars, and really any other form of transportation that uses fuel to operate, are also human causes of global warming. As the fuel is burned in the engine, the bi-product is the same as in power plants: carbon dioxide. Cars are fingered as a cause of global warming more than other forms of transportation because of their inefficiency compared to mass transit.

Fertilizer

·         Fertilizer is another common human cause of global warming. As the population grows, there is a greater need for food. One of the main tools for large scale farmers is fertilizer. As farm fields increase, so does the use of fertilizer. Fertilizer naturally emits the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, which is also dangerous to the environment and a key player in global warming.

Deforestation

·         Deforestation affects global warming in two ways. First, during mass cutting, many trees are burned in the process. This releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Trees are also largely responsible for helping to absorb carbon and release oxygen. The more trees that are lost, especially in temperate forest zones, the less carbon dioxide that is recycled into oxygen.

Methane

·         Methane is the second largest contributor to global warming behind carbon dioxide. Rice fields, cattle farms, and fossil fuel production are all leading human causes of methane released into the atmosphere.

Effects

1. Melting of glaciers and mountain snow caps that feed the world's rivers and supply a large portion of the fresh water used for drinking and irrigation.
2. A rise in sea levels due to the melting of the land-based ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, with many islands and coastal areas ending up more exposed to storm damage or even underwater.
3.  Increasingly costly "bad weather" events such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and severe storms.
4. Lowered agricultural productivity due to less favorable weather conditions, less available irrigation water, increased heat stress to plants, and an increase in pest activity due to warmer temperatures.
5. Increases in vector-borne infectious diseases like malaria and Lyme Disease.
6. Large numbers of extinctions of higher-level species due to their inability to adapt to rapidly changing climate and habitat conditions.

What we SHOULD do:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home.

Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

Drive Less and Drive Smart

Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school.

When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Car share, car pool, bike, Drive carefully and do not waste fuel.

  Fly less
Air travel produces large amounts of emissions so reducing how much you fly by even one or two trips a year can reduce your emissions significantly. You can also offset your air travel carbon emissions by investingin renewable energy projects.

Buy Energy-Efficient Products

When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs.

Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

Use Less Hot Water

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

Use the "Off" Switch

Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them.

It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.

  Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

  Move your fridge and freezer
Placing them next to the cooker or boiler consumes much more energy than if they were standing on their own. For example, if you put them in a hot cellar room where the room temperature is 30-35ºC, energy use is almost double and causes an extra 160kg of CO2 emissions for fridges per year and 320kg for freezers.

  Cover your pots while cooking
Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%!

  Use the washing machine or dishwasher only when they are full
If you need to use it when it is half full, then use the half-load or economy setting. There is also no need to set the temperatures high. Nowadays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low temperatures.

  Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.

  Take a shower instead of a bath
A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximize the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.

  Choose products that come with little packaging and buy refills when you can
You will also cut down on waste production and energy use

Plant a Tree

If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

  Protect and conserve forest worldwide
Forests play a critical role in global warming: they store carbon. When forests are burned or cut down, their stored carbon is release into the atmosphere - deforestation now accounts for about 20% of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Conservation International has more information on saving forests from global warming.

Encourage Others to Conserve

Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.

  Buy locally grown fresh foods instead of frozen
Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

  Buy organic foods as much as possible
Organic soils capture and store carbon dioxide at much higher levels than soils from conventional farms. If we grew all of our corn and soybeans organically, we’d remove 580 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere!

  Eat less meat
Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath.

Conclusion

In our technology and scientific minded world, we seem to have forgotten that mankind is only a relatively minor part of Nature. We ignore being part of a larger whole.

The lesson from global warming is to base all decisions on deep respect and consideration for Nature.

The ultimate global warming solutions is to behave as part of a larger whole