CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change in the world can be caused by various activities. During the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Most of the gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy. Greenhouse gases are like a blanket around the
Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm.
This is called the greenhouse effect, and it is natural and necessary to support life on earth. However, while greenhouse gases build up, the climate changes result in dangerous effects to human health and ecosystems. People have adapted to the stable climate we have enjoyed since the last ice age which ended several thousand years ago. A warmer climate can bring changes that can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety.
There are some climate changes that are unavoidable and nothing can be done about it. For example, carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for nearly a century, so Earth will continue to warm in the future. Global warming is due to the
enhancing greenhouse gas emission and build-up in the Earth’s environment. The gases that have an influence on the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, dinitrogen-oxide, and methane.
In the other 70 percent, most is absorbed by the land and ocean, and the rest is absorbed by the atmosphere. Today, the atmosphere contains more greenhouse gas molecules, so more of the infrared energy emitted by the surface ends up being absorbed by the atmosphere. By increasing the concentration of greenhouse
gases, we are making Earth’s atmosphere a more efficient greenhouse. Climate has cooled and warmed throughout the Earth's history for various reasons.
Climate can change if there is a change in the amount of solar energy that gets to the Earth. Volcano eruptions can really affect climate, because when it erupts it spews out more than just lava and ash. Volcanoes release tiny particles made of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. There are many different ways that plants, animals, and other life on our planet can affect climate. Some can produce greenhouse gases that trap heat and aid global warming through the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere by plants as they make their food by photosynthesis. During the night, plants release some carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. When wildfires occur, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.
However, if a forest of similar size grows again, about the same amount of carbon that was added to the atmosphere during the fire will be removed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that the extent of climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems mitigate or adapt to change . The rising of temperature will have great effects on the earth’s climate patterns and on all living things. Industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years .
In conclusion, we need to take part and try to stop global warming and other effects on climate change. If everybody takes a stand and tries to end most of the climate changes that are occurring, this world would be a safer place to live on.
By Nathalie Salas, Step 9.
