How Burning Fossil Fuels Increase Global Warming

 

The topic of climate change is politically controversial, but the overwhelming majority of environmental scientists agree that the world is getting warmer and human activity is to blame. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in its influential 2007 report that "Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic [human-caused] GHG [greenhouse gas] concentrations." Fossil fuel consumption is the leading cause of increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

1. Greenhouse Effect

   • The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process by which certain atmospheric gases trap and radiate solar energy reflected from the Earth's surface, thereby retaining heat and raising the surface temperature. Without these gases, the average temperature on Earth would be a brisk -40 degrees Fahrenheit. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and tropospheric ozone. Of these, carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to human-caused climate change. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 280 parts per million to 380 ppm, enhancing the greenhouse effect and raising temperatures, according to the educational web portal PhysicalGeography.net

   Impact of Fossil Fuels

   • Burning fossil fuels -- such as coal, oil and natural gas -- release a number of chemicals into the atmosphere, the most significant of which is carbon dioxide (CO2). Between 1970 and 2004, annual CO2 emissions increased by 80 percent, due primarily to fossil fuel use, states the IPCC. This time frame corresponds to a 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in average global temperature, and the IPCC estimates an increase of 3 degrees to 9 degrees over the next hundred years, at the time of publication. The far northern latitudes have witnessed temperature increases two to four times greater than the global average.

   Melting Ice Caps

   • The rise in global temperature is causing glaciers and polar sea ice to melt at an alarming rate. According to NASA, the part of the Arctic Ocean that remains permanently frozen has been shrinking by 10 percent per decade since 1980. Melting ice caps -- the thawing of permafrost and recession of glaciers -- causes a feedback loop, accelerating global warming. Ice is highly reflective; most of the sun's energy bounces off of it back into space. Land exposed by melting ice absorbs more heat, and causes temperatures to rise more quickly. Rising sea levels and loss of polar habitats are two of the most dramatic, immediate effects of climate change.

   Debate and Action

   • Though the media and politicians often portray global warming as a two-sided debate, the scientific community is united in its assertion that climate change is a real, observable fact, and it is caused by human activity. In 2005, the National Science Academies of 11 nations wrote a joint letter to the heads of the G-8 nations, asking them to acknowledge climate change, address its causes and prepare for the consequences of it. Signatory nations of the Kyoto Protocol have, with mixed results, made commitments to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Some of the effects of global warming are irreversible, but in order to ensure a habitable planet for future generations, the world must take immediate action to limit the emission of greenhouse gases.
     

     
     

      Source ; ehow