Discussion: Global Warming
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Directions
Climate change is a hot topic in science and also in politics. Carbon dioxide is an example of a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. What are other examples of greenhouse gases and how do greenhouse gases cause global warming? Following websites will give you some more information regarding global warming in addition to chapter 8 in your textbook.
NASA: Global Climate Change (Links to an external site.)
EPA: Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases (Links to an external site.)
After you have posted your initial post, read and respond to two or more of your classmates\’ posts. Be sure to make substantive and constructive comments (just posting “nice post†doesn’t count). For example, add something from your own experience, something you’ve read or seen. If the situation calls for it, feel free to state an opinion, but be sure to state any points with which you agree and/or those with which you disagree, as well as your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing.
Global Warming
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Global Warming
Introduction
Global warming is an ongoing debate among major shareholders and activists of climate change. Global warming is caused by greenhouses which have detrimental effects on living things and other objects. One of the common greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide (NASA, 2021). Other greenhouse gases include methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor (which all occur naturally), and fluorinated gases (which are synthetic). The greenhouse gases consist of different chemical properties and are removed from the atmosphere through different mechanisms. Carbon dioxide is removed through carbon sinks such as plants, the ocean, and soil (Denchak, 2019). Fluorinated gases are destroyed only by sunlight in the far upper atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases cause global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere, which in turn warm the planet. Usually, about 70 percent of solar energy passes through the earth’s atmosphere to the surface where it is absorbed by the ocean, land, and atmosphere, and heats the planet. The heat is normally radiated back up in the form of invisible infrared light (Denchak, 2019). Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb the infrared and redirect it back towards the earth causing global warming. The greenhouse gas effect leads to several other changes around the world. Human activities have been the major cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation are the leading cause of emission (EPA.gov., 2021). The higher concentration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, the more extra heat trapped in the atmosphere and the more global warming experienced.
Reference
EPA.gov. (2021). Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases. https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases
NASA. (2021). Global Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/search/?q=global+warming
Denchak, M. (2019. Greenhouse Effect 101. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/greenhouse-effect-101