Sei sulla pagina 1di 11

1

THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE


ENVIRONMENT

The Real and Consequential Effects of Greenhouse Gases in the


Environment, Due to an Increase of CO2 Emissions
By Burning Fossil Fuels
Fernando I. Morales
University of Texas in El Paso

2
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

Abstract
For the past century, the consequences of greenhouse gases present in our
atmosphere, have been acknowledged and accepted as truth by the scientific community. The
increasing amounts of CO2 released into the atmosphere over the years, has begun to have
effects on our environment and the global temperature. Human activity is largely at fault and has
gone a long time without being checked. If this were to continue, wed have global consequences
that would affect us and our future generations gravely. Global warming isnt just one issue of
itself, but comes with many other consequences. Much like a row of dominoes, one thing causes
another and that thing causes several others. We as the inhabitants of earth must all acknowledge
the fault of our actions and tend the problems at hand, that are largely caused by the use of fossil
fuels.

3
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

The Real and Consequential Effects of Greenhouse Gases in the Environment,


Due to an Increase of CO2 by Burning
Fossil Fuels

In the most recent years, much attention has been directed towards the ever growing
problem that is the outpouring of CO2 into the atmosphere. While there is plentiful of well
supported evidence that the issue is indeed a real one, many still refuse to accept the fact of
global climate change. Perhaps it is due to simple ignorance of the topic, lack of exposure to the
information (which will we be further examined as to why), or a perseverance to deny the
scientific facts. It is incredibly important to be aware of this issue and to be certain that one
thoroughly understands the realities of what can, and is happening when there is an increase in
CO2 in the atmosphere. In the following writing, I will demonstrate the truthfulness of the effect
of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the reasons why theyve increased so much in the past
century, and what can and should be done in order to mediate this situation.
Reasonably speaking, scientists have known about the relationship between CO2 in the
atmosphere and environmental changes for quite some time now. It was in the year 1896, when a
Swedish scientist by the name of Svante Arrhenius, proposed the concept that the burning of
fossil fuels would inevitably lead to a global increase of temperatures. He was able to see a
correlation between large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and temperate. This was
known as the greenhouse effect.
Unfortunately, it wasnt until the 1980s that temperatures all around the world began to
sharply curve upward and the scientific community began to examine more the evidence. A

4
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

scientist by the name of Stephen Schneider actually predicted this, and what we now call global
warming. Sometime after 1998, the term greenhouse effect was almost not used at all, and
instead the media, and press began to pick up the terms global warming and climate change.
Now, to truly begin to understand climate change and global warming, one must first
know what greenhouse gases are exactly, since they are the cause of this after all. Greenhouse
gases are gases that, when in the atmosphere, act as a sort of insulator for the earth. When
radiation from the sun reaches the earth, some of it bounces off the atmosphere and is sent back
into space, although most of it goes through it and reaches the ground. It is also very important to
understand that, greenhouse gases are essential for life as we know it. If it wasnt for them, the
earth would be much cooler than it is now, and life would be a lot more difficult. But when the
levels of these greenhouse gases are increased, the layer of insulation is thickened, and heat is
trapped more easily. Normally, the earth would cooldown by reemitting this energy as infrared
radiation back into space, but because the atmosphere is too thick with greenhouse gases, the
heat is kept in and it causes global increases in temperature.
The most prominent and most know by the general public of these greenhouse gases is
carbon dioxide, or CO2. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fifth
Assessment Report (2014), CO2 constitutes for about 64.3% of the warming being done on the
atmosphere. The other gases present in the atmosphere, that arent nearly as prominent as CO2,
are methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases. The power to insulate also varies among these
gases. For example, methane traps about 21 times more heat when compared to CO2.
Fortunately, there isnt as much methane as there is carbon dioxide.
These gases sometimes quickly dissipate and pose no threat to the atmosphere, but when
large amounts are secreted, they can potentially stay for thousands of years. When this happens,

5
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

the climate starts to become affected. Heat is kept in the atmosphere and in turn, settles back
down to earth. This is when things become troublesome for us. The global temperature is at a
very delicate balance in which, if tampered with, things becomes unstable. One of the most
immediate and noticeable consequences, is hotter days. 2016, is well on its way to becoming the
hottest year on record. Seasons are no longer accurate and areas that are normally cold all year
round start to heat up. This means that icy zones, will inevitably being to melt and this will have
dire effects on the entire world. Large ice caps that melt, cause a rise in sea levels. Not only that
but, there is a mixing of fresh and salt water. Much of our agriculture depends on this fresh
water. Cities or living places located in coastal areas, will become engulfed by water as the sea
level rises. And, although there is not a lot of evidence, research indicates that ocean acidification
could occurs, due to an absorption of the excess CO2.
Now, if this is such grave issue that is well supported by evidence, why arent we all
making it our best effort to make changes? Well, it is because we ourselves are the culprit for this
global disaster. Researchers and scientific evidence indicate that human activity is the main
sources for an increase of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. Since the industrial revolution,
carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have sky rocketed and the earth has hit record
highs for average temperature. What could it be that we are doing to release such a significant
amount of CO2 into our environment? The primary reason is the combustion of fossil fuels.
Natural fuels, such as coal, oil or gas. We release CO2 when we turn our cars on, run machinery
with fossil fuels, burn trees or wastes. When this happens, the CO2 that is released is carried by
wind currents all over the world. Every single nation then becomes involved.
To this day, over a century and a considerable amount of scientific evidence later, many
people still believe global warming or climate change to be a hoax, or not true. Unfortunately

6
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

this is because leaders and corporations, like ExxonMobil for example, choose to not accept the
facts. It is reasonable to think that these corporations will make it their best effort to ignore the
facts that may compromise their billion dollar business. But there are also leaders in our nation
that refuse scientific truth. 56% of republicans in congress deny climate change. If these are the
people that are running our country then what must that say about the general public. In a survey
done in 2015, 23% of Americans said that they do not believe in global warming and 53% said
that they do not believe that global warming is human caused. This is incredibly unsettling
considering how much evidence there is to prove otherwise. Global warming has changed from a
theory, to scientific fact a long time ago.
In order to reverse the process that is climate change, and hopefully fix the effects that the
release of carbon dioxide has had on the atmosphere and environment, we must all make it a
global effort to move towards more cleaner and renewable sources of energy. Perhaps, ask our
government to impose more regulations on corporations that knowingly pollute the atmosphere.
The leading alternative forms of energy that we can adopt more are, solar, wind, hydro, and
hybrid-electrical powered vehicles. Not only are these forms of energy free of the harmful effects
that CO2 has on the environment but they are also almost unlimited. Fossil fuels took several
million years to be created and so when we do finally run out of them, it will be impossible to
have more anytime soon.
So for our sake and the earths, we must take responsibility for the consequences of our
actions and care for our planet. Global warming is indeed very real and it will affect everyone in
the near future.

7
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

Annotated Bibliography
What are the real and consequential effects of greenhouse gases in the environment, due to an
increase of emission of CO2 by burning fossil fuels?
Achenbach, J. (2015, March). Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science? Retrieved
October 11, 2016, from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/sciencedoubters/achenbach-text
For quite some time now, people have opposed scientific findings with adamant and
sometimes aggressive opposition. Dismissing it as conspiracies brought about by those
opposing economic growth or perhaps to subdue the public. But sometimes leaders or
powerful companies may choose to purposefully mislead the public for monetary gain.
The oil industry and other fuel industries are powerhouses when it comes to money, and
the people behind them are some of the wealthiest individuals in the world. So when
scientific evidence begins to show that the use of fossil fuels over a long period of time
can be very damaging to the environment, those that might lose profits if the public knew
the truth, unfortunately choose to hide the truth.
One must be able to think for themselves and formulate an opinion based on facts and
real scientific knowledge.
Bedford, D., & Cook, J. (2016). Climate change: Examining the facts. Santa Barbara, CA: ABCCLIO.
The climate has unfortunately reached a point that if further left unchanged, it will
become a problem for the entire world. CO2 emissions are now coming from burning
gasoline for automobiles, and oils. The price for changing from fossil fuels, for energy, to

8
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

something more sustainable and not harmful to the environment is seen by many as too
high. But when it comes to the earth we live in, we cannot be cheap. As Bedford says,
economic growth and CO2 emissions are unfortunately seen as going hand in hand and
so many hesitate to do anything about greenhouse gases
Bedfords take on the correlation of economic growth and CO2 emission will be useful in
understanding why corporations wont pay attention to climate change.
Does population growth impact climate change? (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2016, from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/population-growth-climate-change/
It has been in the last century that, the human race has had the biggest growth spurt when
it comes to population expansion. In just one hundred years, the population has increased
from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion. This is an incredible change, which poses some difficulties
on the environment. Human beings consume large amounts of unrenewable oil, coal, gar,
and other fuels extracted from the earth. The United States alone only constitutes for
about 5% of earths population and we contribute 25% of the CO2 emissions. The larger
the demand for oil becomes, the more CO2 emissions increase. And with population
growing at an incredible rate, energy demands are sure to increase as well.
When examining why it is that none renewable fossil fuels are so desired, one will come
to see that population growth is a very big reason.
Enzler, S. M. (2016) History of the greenhouse effect and global warming. Retrieved from
http://www.lenntech.com/greenhouse-effect/global-warming-history.htm
The idea that humans were tied into the increase of global temperature was first
introduced by a scientist by the name of Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927). He found a
connection between carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and temperature. In the years

9
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

that followed (1950s to 1960s) scientific evidence began to point towards a theory know
as global cooling. For the time being, global warming was put to the back as a theory that
was lacking evidence. It wasnt until 1980s that global warming was once again under
the spotlight. Rises in temperature across the global began to steeply increase and the
theory of global cooling was under question.
It is important to understand how long it took for the theory of global warming to really
become accept as fact and why it is fact.
Gregoire, C. (2015, November 23). Why Some Conservatives Cant Accept That Climate Change
Is Real. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-changedenial-psychology_us_56438664e4b045bf3ded5ca5
Gregoire makes many valid points when analyzing the psychology behind why many
Americans still do not believe global warming. Many important figures in our country
also dont believe that global warming is real. And go out of their way to try and convice
others that it is indeed a hoax. Corporations also ignore that facts, and hide their actions
carefully, in order to avoid any kind of controversy. Because how bad would it look if
you admitted that your business was doing badly to the environment.
Gregoires analyses will help me to explain why it is that a century later, many people
still refuse to believe in global warming.
McKee, K. L. (2016) Potential Effects of Elevated Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2) on
Coastal Wetlands. Lafayette, LA: U.S. Geological Survey
Since the industrial era, carbon monoxide emissions have increased dramatically.
Indicating that humans are intrinsically involved, in what was previously believed to be a
normal effect of nature balancing out. Evidence now proves that increasing co2 emissions

10
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

can have a devastating influence on the magnitude of hurricanes, rainfall, temperature,


and rise of sea level, because of melting polar ice caps. This would be especially
detrimental to coastal cities and marine life. Erosion of these coastal areas would greatly
increase and sediment would be dumped into the ocean. The oceans would change in
size, in turn changing the ratio of land to water.
The increase of CO2 is a big trigger when it comes to many other things, temperature
being one them. These factors are not independent, they too will affect other aspects of
nature that will most definitely affect life on earth. Including us.
Rinkesh. (n.d.). Alternaitve Energy Sources. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/AlternativeEnergySources.php
Fossil fuels are extremely nonrenewable. It took millions of years for the remains of
animals, more specifically dinosaurs, to become what we now use as fuel. Oil, coal, and
gas for example, are all drilled from the earth and burned to use as energy. Unfortunately
this has many negative effects on the environment. There is, fortunately, many other
options for energy that should be consider a lot more now that the effects of CO2 trapped
in the hemisphere are becoming an issue. From solar energy, an almost unlimited supply,
to even using the tides of the ocean. We must simply make the choice to convert to a
more renewable and not so harm source of energy.
Once weve come to understand that fossils fuels are very limited and harmful, we must
search for a more superior energy source.

11
THE REAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL EFFECTS OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT

Potrebbero piacerti anche