Introduction to global warming


Global Warming:
Global warming refers to the increase in average temperature of the earth, particularly at the lower atmosphere due to the abundant increase of greenhouse gases. This is primarily due to the human's intervention and the lifestyle they have adapted in the recent years.


Greenhouse gases in its natural content in the atmosphere are required, for it acts as a greenhouse around the earth. It allows the sun's rays to pass through the atmosphere but doesn't let it to escape and creates a surrounding suitable for life. Life cannot exist without green house gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane etc but they should be existing in permissible quantities only. The problem of global warming arises when people started contributing abundant amount of green house gases which traps more heat in the atmosphere thus increasing the temperature.

Global warming begins when sunlight reaches Earth. The clouds, atmospheric particles, reflective ground surfaces and ocean surface then reflected about 30 percent of it back into space, while the remaining is absorbed by oceans, lands and air. This in turn heats the planet’s surface and atmosphere, making life possible. As Earth warmed up, this solar energy is radiated by thermal radiation or infrared heat, travelling directly out to space, thus cooling the Earth. However, some of the outgoing radiation is re-absorbed by carbon dioxide, water vapor and other gases in the atmosphere and is radiated back to Earth’s surface; these gases are known as greenhouse gases due to their heat-trapping capacity. This re-absorption process is naturally good; the Earth’s average surface temperature would be very cold if not for the greenhouse gases.
The problem begins when the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were artificially raised by humankind at an ever-increasing rate since the past 250 years. As of 2004, over 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide was pumped out per year; natural carbon sinks such as forests and the ocean absorbed some of this, while the rest accumulated in the atmosphere. Millions of pounds of methane are produced in landfills and agricultural decomposition of biomass and animal manure. Nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere by nitrogen-based fertilizers and other soil management practices. Once released, these greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for decades or longer. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide and methane levels have increased by 35 and 148 percent since the 1750 industrial revolution. Paleoclimate readings taken from ice cores and fossil records dating back to 650 000 years show that both gases are at their highest levels. Thermal radiation is obstructed further by the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, resulting in what is known as enhanced global warming.
Recent observations of global warming have solidified the theory that it is indeed an enhanced greenhouse effect that is causing the world to warm. The planet has experienced the largest increase in surface temperature over the last century. Between 1906 and 2006, the Earth’s average surface temperature rose between 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius; the last 50 years saw the temperature increase rate almost doubling. Sea levels have shown a rise of about 0.17 meters during the twentieth century. The extent of Arctic sea ice has steadily shrunk by 2.7 percent per decade since 1978, just as world’s glaciers steadily receded.
As the world continues to consume ever more fossil fuel energy, greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to rise, and with them Earth’s temperature. The IPCC estimates that based on plausible emission scenarios, average surface temperatures could increase between 2°C and 6°C by the end of the 21st century. Continued warming at current rates poses serious consequences. Low-lying coastal regions, with dense population, are especially vulnerable to climate shifts, with the poorer countries and small island nations having the hardest time adapting. It has been projected that by 2080, 13 to 88 million people around the world would lose their home to floods.
Ways to stop Global Warming:There are many ways as below.
Plant more trees and stop contributing to deforestation: This is by far the easiest measure to save our planet from the hazards of global warming. Global warming can be attributed to the large-scale concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That being said planting trees can help in absorbing this harmful gas and help in regulating its amount in the atmosphere and help in preventing global warming by lessening green house effect.


Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs: Every household which uses incandescent bulbs contributes to global warming on a large scale. On the whole, these bulbs add 300 lbs of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year. Replacing incandescent bulbs with energy saving Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) can help in reducing carbon dioxide generation and help you to save 60 percent of energy.

Reuse and recycle products: Reusing and recycling various products which we use in our day-to-day life can also help you in doing your bit to stop global warming. For instance, recycling paper will make sure that the large-scale felling of trees to produce paper is stopped, and these trees will in turn absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and reduce global warming.


Unplug appliances: Unplugging appliances to save energy is yet another effective way to address the problems of global warming. Simply unplugging all the electronic devices which are not in use can help in saving 20 percent energy. More importantly, it will also help in reducing your electricity bill by 10 percent every month.



Avoid keeping electrical appliances on standby: Similarly, keeping electronic appliances on standby also contributes to loss of energy and global warming, and therefore is best avoided. One may feel that keeping a single computer on standby won't make a big difference, but when millions of people think in this manner it does make a drastic difference.

Use a programmable thermostat: A thermostat helps in regulating the temperature by altering heat supply. Make sure that you keep your thermostat as low as possible during the winter, and as high as possible during the summer. Lowering the thermostat by 2 degrees in winter and increasing it by 2 degrees in summer can help in keeping 2,000 lbs of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.


Promote the use of organic products: Promoting the use of organic foods is also one of the effective ways to prevent global warming. The tendency of organic soils to capture carbon dioxide far exceeds that of the soil used in conventional farming. Estimates suggest that we can get rid of 580 billion lbs of carbon dioxide if we resort to organic farming for food production.



Use vehicles efficiently: One of the leading causes of pollution, vehicles dump a great amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If we stop using vehicle we can cut down of great amount of pollution. If you can't resist vehicle, you can opt to efficient driving tips, such as turning the engine off at red lights and driving at moderate speeds, and contribute in curbing global warming. Ideally though, you should opt for public transport or other environment friendly modes of transportation such as cycling.


Resort to alternative sources of energy: One of the most talked about global warming solution is to switch to alternative energy sources such as solar power and wind power. You can easily harness these sources of nature to generate power, and replace fossil fuels with it. Doing away with fossil fuels alone will help in reducing the huge amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere every day.

Become a responsible citizen: This is the most important among the various measures to curb global warming. We need to acknowledge the fact that we are responsible for this menace to a great extent. Just implementing the simple steps to stop global warming mentioned above can make a huge difference. You can also come up with your own novel ways to contribute for this cause. For instance, one of our readers had made a valid point by saying, "If we sacrifice the unnecessary luxuries in our life, we can contribute in saving the tremendous amount of energy which goes in their production."

Resorting to these 10 ways to stop global warming can help us to curb the problem to a significant extent. However, we also need to take into consideration the fact that this problem has developed over a period of time and thus it will take a significant amount of time for things to get back to normal. While the administration tries to tackle the hazards of global warming at a larger scale, we can follow the measures given above and contribute our bit for the cause.



                                                A lot of gas increasing day by day more industries 

                                              to Stop global warming from plant increasing on the earth

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