Global Warming Paper

Nicole Persa
Doctor Vandivere
2/10/15
Global Warming One of today’s greatest controversial topics is about global warming. Many scientists today are expressing their concern about climate change. Scientist believes that the earth is warming at a rapid pace and that there have been many signs to warn us of this. There are many causes of global warming, and people are unaware of the effects of climate change. There are things that can be done to help decrease the rapid pace of climate change. Human activity is a main cause of major pollution. Everyday human activity results in burning a fossil fuel. Humans burn many things such as coal, gas, and oil. For example humans burn gas when driving a car. "When we extract and burn fossil fuels such as coal or petroleum, we cause the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping "greenhouse gases" into the atmosphere."("How Are Humans Responsible” 2) When these chemicals burn they release carbon dioxide into the air and that then traps heat into the ozone layer. Which results with the earth heating up. Another form of human activity that contributes to the climate change is deforestation. Humans have been clearing forests for centuries. Little do they know is that when trees are cute down they release carbon into the air. "Clearing forests also releases large amounts of CO2. On top of that, plants and trees use CO2 to grow. Worldwide deforestation means we don't have as many trees to absorb the extra CO2."("How Are Humans Responsible.” 1) Plants and trees help the planet by absorbing some of the carbon out of the atmosphere. When trees are cut down they can no longer help the atmosphere and instead they release more carbon into the air. So not only to we lose a form of oxygen (which trees produce) we also lose the help from trees and plans to reduce the carbon in the air. Most people are unaware of climate change and the effects of it. Because people are uneducated on the topic of climate change, they do not realize that their actions contribute to climate change. Even when people do hear about global warming, they do not look further into it. "Overall, we found that 63 percent of Americans believe that global warming is happening, but many do not understand why” (“Americans' Knowledge of.” 1) This shows that people do believe that global warming is real, but they do not understand the cause behind it. It is possible that if people were aware of the rapid pace of the earth heating up and the cause of it, then maybe they would take action in helping to reduce this process. "The study also found important gaps in knowledge and common misconceptions about climate change and the earth system. These misconceptions lead some people to doubt that global warming is happening or that human activities are a major contributor, to misunderstand the causes and therefore the solutions, and to be unaware of the risks." (“Americans' Knowledge of” 1) Many people are skeptics if global warming is real or not. And that can lead to misconceptions about climate change. But the proof is in the facts. Sea levels are rising due to earth heating up and glaciers melting. If people were to look into these scientific facts then maybe they would have a better concept on global warming. The warming of the earth is causing sea level to rise due to thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of land ice. Because the earth has heated up so much over the past few years, glaciers have melted and caused the sea levels to increase drastically. "The last 30 years have seen the warmest surface temperatures in recorded history, and the past several years have been among the warmest on record"(Gills 2) Because the earth has heated up so drastically in the past 30 years it could be lead to believe that it could have some relation to human activity. This could mean that the climate is only getting warmer and water and sea levels are going to keep rising and soon it will be to late. "Sea ice thickness and

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Global Warming Research Paper

Global Warming Research Paper

Global Warming Research Paper