DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Global Warming
HTML https://globalwarming.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: General Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 2--------------------------------------------------
Causes of Global Warming
By: knowledgemanager Date: February 11, 2013, 6:44 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone!
Global warming is a pretty hot topic (pun, intended) that has
many controversies surrounding it, starting off with a most
basic question:
What do you think are the most pertinent causes of global
warming? If indeed it exists.
Please feel free to share your thoughts and if you don't need
anonymity, your name and possibly background
:)
#Post#: 3--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: toshrock84 Date: February 11, 2013, 7:42 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hey guys I'm, Daniel Castro, an IB diploma student.
Well basically I think there are four basic systems which are
causing the climate of our planet to change:
1. Milankovitch cycles. These are three changes in the movement
of the Earth in relation to the sun. Two of these have to do
with the axis of rotation of the planet. On one of them, the
axis is literally shifting possition slightly (think of it as if
it was sliding around a bit). The second one has to do with the
tilting or "wobbling" of this same axis. The third cycle is
related to how centered the sun is in relation to the Earths
gravitational orbit.
2. 12-year Solar cycles. Scientists are unsure of why this
happens, but every twelve years roughly, there is a noticeable
change on the radiation emmited by the sun. This is generally on
a fluctuating trend.
3. Change in the Earth's albedo. If you are not familiar with
the term, albedo is a way of measuring how much proportion of
radiation any object or surface reflects/absorbs. It is given by
the values <= (less than/equal to) 1 or >= 0, in which a higher
value represents more radiation reflected (snow has an albedo of
0.04, meaning it absorbs only 4% of radiation that it recieves).
Back to the topic of climate change, with a decrease in ice cap
surface, the Earth is reflecting less sunlight and absorbing
more heat.
4. Variation in gas structure of the atmosphere. Possibly the
most talked about lately. This one is related to the greenhouse
effect. Gases such as carbon dioxide are being released into our
atmosphere through various causes. These do not absorb the UV
radiation from the sun, but once this reaches our planet and
heats up its surface, this radiates infrared, which is absorbed
by these gases, therefore "trapping" the heat and creating this
greehouse effect. While carbon dioxide is the gas that is being
released the most as a result of human action, it is not the
most dangerous gas. Methane absorbs 21 times more radiation than
CO2, and a man-made gas used in fridges and previously used in
aerosols called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs absorb radiation as
much as 10,000 times as much as carbon dioxide.
#Post#: 6--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: jellyfied Date: February 11, 2013, 8:10 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Wow Daniel, that was a very informative post!
The first three reasons are those I wouldn't think of on a day
to day basis
And for someone like me who is not as well acquainted with
science I would think that carbon Dioxide Emissions from fossil
fuel burning industries/transportation would be the most
pertinent cause. At least with what the media portrays anyway.
There was this book I was reading by Milton Friedman: Hot, Flat
and Crowded-- basically proposing that we are at a crisis of
green energy technology and that America and the world in
general had to take more action than the token Green
'revolution' we are having now where the problem of emissions
are not solved at its root- capitalism and wanton use of
resources.
Other factors of GW might be methane emissions from animals or
deforestation? While the first one might be pretty consistent
through the ages hmm
#Post#: 10--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: joe Date: February 15, 2013, 3:21 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi there. I'm Joseph and used to do geography back in college.
Anyway, while many greenhouse gases naturally occur and they
create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth's temperature
warm enough to support life, the main source of excess
greenhouse gases is human use of fossil fuels. When we drive
cars, use electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heat our
homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and
other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is
also another significant source of greenhouse gases because the
fewer the number of trees, the less carbon dioxide converts to
oxygen.
During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric
concentration of carbon dioxider increased by 31 percent. Over
the same period, the level of atmospheric methane rose by 151
percent, mostly from agricultural activities such as raising
cattle and growing rice.
#Post#: 12--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: Ohnogore Date: February 16, 2013, 10:19 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi everybody.
Very interesting and knowledgeable posts. I would though like to
throw something else in the debate as well. To me it seems like
the scientific community says two things. 1) global warming is
definitely real. It seems to be at the point, where it is
considered foolish to deny that global warming is happening. 2)
even though it exists it somehow still seems questionable,
whether global warming is man-made. Both fronts seem to have
strong scientific evidence pointing in each direction. So what
I'm thinking is that even though the scientific community should
be very united in seeing global warming as man-made, and even
though you should know the correct answers, doesnt it remain a
very big challenge to get the correct information to the public?
And if countries truly are governed by its people, couldnt this
problem prove to be one of the very biggest threats in order to
take corrective action?
Articles:
HTML http://scienceprogress.org/2012/11/27479/
HTML http://www.petitionproject.org/index.php
HTML http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php
#Post#: 14--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: username101 Date: February 24, 2013, 5:07 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Global Warming is caused by many things. The causes are split up
into two groups, man-made or anthropogenic causes, and natural
causes.
Natural Causes
Natural causes are causes created by nature. One natural cause
is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands.
Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that
traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is
that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This
climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years.
Man-made Causes
Man-made causes probably do the most damage. There are many
man-made causes. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made
problems. Pollution comes in many shapes and sizes. Burning
fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. Fossil fuels
are fuels made of organic matter such as coal, or oil. When
fossil fuels are burned they give off a green house gas called
CO2. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. How does
it escape? Methane is naturally in the ground. When coal or oil
is mined you have to dig up the earth a little. When you dig up
the fossil fuels you dig up the methane as well.
Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population.
More people means more food, and more methods of transportation,
right? That means more methane because there will be more
burning of fossil fuels, and more agriculture. Now your probably
thinking, "Wait a minute, you said agriculture is going to be
damaged by Global Warming, but now you're saying agriculture is
going to help cause Global Warming?" Well, have you ever been in
a barn filled with animals and you smell something terrible?
You're smelling methane. Another source of methane is manure.
Because more food is needed we have to raise food. Animals like
cows are a source of food which means more manure and methane.
Another problem with the increasing population is
transportation. More people means more cars, and more cars means
more pollution. Also, many people have more than one car.
Overpopulation
Since CO2 contributes to global warming, the increase in
population makes the problem worse because we breathe out CO2.
Also, the trees that convert our CO2 to oxygen are being
demolished because we're using the land that we cut the trees
down from as property for our homes and buildings. We are not
replacing the trees (an important part of our eco system), so we
are constantly taking advantage of our natural resources and
giving nothing back in return.
#Post#: 35--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: KSN Date: March 13, 2013, 9:00 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Does Globalization cause global warming? Intuitively,
globalization results in more people doing business-related
travel on commercial airplanes, therefore increasing the burning
of jet fuel, and depleting the ozone layer? Yes? No?
#Post#: 36--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: momo Date: March 14, 2013, 10:27 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone,
Of all the listed causes of global warming, Which do you guys
think are:
1) The most detrimental cause by far of global warming
2) The most pertinent issue to tackle now (Does not have to be
the biggest cause)
:)
#Post#: 37--------------------------------------------------
Re: Causes of Global Warming
By: jellyfied Date: March 25, 2013, 11:05 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Well I would agree global warming can be caused by globalization
and in general mankind's increasingly large scale
industrialization in a capitalist framework.
Also to further momo's question on the most pertinent issue to
tackle now, I believe most proposals aim to reduce the impact of
climate change by reducing emission of greenhouse gases, as this
might be the greatest contributing factor, but ways in which to
achieve this might vary.
For example, by (1) developing more non-polluting renewable
energy sources, (2) adding more nuclear power plants, (3)
reducing energy use by conservation, (4) reforestation to “soak
up” more CO2, or (5) removing carbon in fossil fuels before
combustion and “sequestering” that carbon in underground
reservoirs. Others have also suggested that societies simply
learn to live with climate change. Though personally I think
that might not be viable as global warming might get so bad that
it might not be sustainable or conducive to life.
*****************************************************