Global Warming

A Thesis
Presented to
Mr. Patrick D. Dagaraga
Christ the King College

In Partial Fulfillment
In the Requirement of the
Natural Science I

By
Leonel Martin V. Carillero
July 20, 2009

Title: "Global Warming" are we

responsible?
Statement of the Problem
Global Warming is not a fad. It is not a story that
somebody just made up. Global Warming is a scientific reality
that all humans face. Some of the things we do have a negative
impact on our planet. And what are those things that caused
global warming?
We all know that every little thing that has caused global
warming has its own effect. To answer that, we will ask to
ourselves what the effects of global warming are. Knowing that
made us felt that there’s something we need to do as a little
contribution for being one who caused global warming. We
need to reverse this impact now by giving an effort to reduce it.
And what are the things that we could do to reduce global
warming?

Introduction
Global warming is indeed a scientific reality that all
humans are facing. This is the result of the things that we do
that have a negative impact to our planet. One who is making or
doing those things are the humans. Global warming will not
happen without those things that have caused it.
Greenhouse gases are the number one cause of global
warming. When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, we
should not ask ourselves whether greenhouse gases emitted by
human activities have an impact, but how much effect these
emissions have on temperature. This greenhouse gases are the
water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane,
chloroflourocarbon, hydroflourocarbon, trifluoromethyl sulfur
pentafluoride and ozone. These gases have big impacts to
global warming. Deforestation is the second cause of
atmospheric carbon dioxide. All of these causes will not
happen if humans also will not do things that could cause the
causes of global warming.
Consequences comefrom those causes. These
consequences are the things that we are experiencing now. We
suffered from the things that caused greenhouse effect.
This thesis was made in order for us to be aware more
about global warming and for us to know what we can do to
reduce global warming. We cannot take back what we’ve done
so reducing global warming is the best way we can do so that
all of us will still be living in this world.

Global Warming, increase in the average temperature of

the atmosphere, oceans, and landmasses of Earth. This has
been happening in the recent decades and is expected to
continue. In fact the term global warming is said to be a specific
example of climatic changes. In scientific and common terms,
global warming refers to recent warming and also implies a
human influence on the same.
The planet has warmed (and cooled) many times during
the 4.65 billion years of its history. At present Earth appears to
be facing a rapid warming, which most scientists believe
results, at least in part, from human activities.
The chief cause of this warming is thought to be the
burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which
releases into the atmosphere carbon dioxide and other
substances known as greenhouse gases. As the atmosphere
becomes richer in these gases, it becomes a better insulator,
retaining more of the heat provided to the planet by the Sun.
The average surface temperature of Earth is about 15°C
(59°F). Over the last century, this average has risen by about 0.6
degree Celsius (1 Fahrenheit degree). Scientists predict further
warming of 1.4 to 5.8 Celsius degrees (2.5 to 10.4 Fahrenheit
degrees) by the year 2100. This temperature rise is expected to
melt polar ice caps and glaciers as well as warm the oceans, all
of which will expand ocean volume and raise sea level by an
estimated 9 to 100 cm (4 to 40 in), flooding some coastal
regions and even entire islands.
Some regions in warmer climates will receive more
rainfall than before, but soils will dry out faster between storms.
This soil desiccation may damage food crops, disrupting food
supplies in some parts of the world. Plant and animal species
will shift their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations
seeking cooler temperatures and species that cannot do so
may become extinct. The potential consequences of global
warming are so great that many of the world's leading
scientists have called for international cooperation and
immediate action to counteract the problem.

Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over

the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the
atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapor,
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide and ozone.
Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the
greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of
greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the
emission of carbon dioxide.

The greenhouse effect

When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed
and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the
atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of
these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of
this long wave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These
greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth
some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to
space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is
called the "greenhouse effect".

A.Greenhouse Gases
Greenhouse gases occur naturally in the environment and
also result from human activities. By far the most abundant
greenhouse gas is water vapor, which reaches the atmosphere
through evaporation from oceans, lakes, and rivers, which
causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth (not
including clouds)
Carbon dioxide is the next most abundant greenhouse
gas, which causes 9-26% of the greenhouse effect on Earth. It
flows into the atmosphere from many natural processes, such
as volcanic eruptions; the respiration of animals, which breathe
in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; and the burning or decay
of organic matter, such as plants. Carbon dioxide leaves the
atmosphere when it is absorbed into ocean water and through
the photosynthesis of plants, especially trees. Photosynthesis
breaks up carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen into the
atmosphere and incorporating the carbon into new plant tissue.
Humans escalate the amount of carbon dioxide released
to the atmosphere when they burn fossil fuels, solid wastes,
and wood and wood products to heat buildings, drive vehicles,
and generate electricity. At the same time, the number of trees
available to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis has
been greatly reduced by deforestation, the long-term
destruction of forests by indiscriminate cutting of trees for
lumber or to clear land for agricultural activities.
Oceans and other natural processes absorb excess carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.
Human activities have caused carbon dioxide to be
released to the atmosphere at rates much faster than that at
which Earth’s natural processes can cycle this gas.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases by about
1.5 ppm per year. If current predictions prove accurate, by the
year 2100 carbon dioxide will reach concentrations of more
than 540 to 970 ppm.
Methane is an even more effective insulator, trapping over
20 times more heat than does the same amount of carbon
dioxide, which causes 4-9% of the greenhouse effect on Earth.
Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal,
natural gas, and oil. Methane also comes from rotting organic
waste in landfills, and it is released from certain animals,
especially cows, as a byproduct of digestion.
 Nitrous oxide is a powerful insulating gas released
primarily by burning fossil fuels and by plowing farm soils.
Nitrous oxide traps about 300 times more heat than does the
same amount of carbon dioxide. The concentration of nitrous
oxide in the atmosphere has increased 17 percent over
preindustrial levels. In addition, greenhouse gases are
produced in many manufacturing processes. Perfluorinated
compounds result from the smelting of aluminum.
Hydrofluorocarbons form during the manufacture of many
products, including the foams used in insulation, furniture, and
car seats. Refrigerators built in some developing nations still
use chlorofluorocarbons as coolants. In addition to their ability
to retain atmospheric heat, some of these synthetic chemicals
also destroy Earth’s high-altitude ozone layer, the protective
layer of gases that shields Earth from damaging ultraviolet
radiation. The atmospheric concentrations of many of these
gases are either increasing more slowly or decreasing.
Scientists are growing concerned about other gases produced
from manufacturing processes that pose an environmental risk.
A substantial rise in atmospheric concentrations of a newly
identified synthetic compound called trifluoromethyl sulfur
pentafluoride. Atmospheric concentrations of this gas are
rising quickly, and although it still is extremely rare in the
atmosphere, scientists are concerned because the gas traps
heat more effectively than all other known greenhouse gases.
Perhaps more worrisome, scientists have been unable to
confirm the industrial source of the gas.
Another distinct issue commonly associated with
greenhouse warming and global warming is the ozone. Ozone
is a naturally occurring gas in the lower atmosphere that helps
trap heat. The burning of fossil fuels creates even more ozone,
as ozone is one component of smog. As ozone builds, so does
trapped heat, increasing the greenhouse effect.
Additionally, ozone plays a role in the upper atmosphere
where it shields the Earth from deadly ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Unfortunately, CFC's - the same human produced compound
that acts like a greenhouse gas in the lower atmosphere -
destroy ozone. This can result in holes in our upper ozone layer
as seen over Antarctica where cold temperatures, atmospheric
circulation and other factors combine to 'draw' these ozone
holes.
Another major man made cause for global warming is the
CFC’s or scientifically known as Chlorofluorocarbons.
Chlorofluorocarbons are widely used in refrigerators and in
aerosol sprays. The chlorofluorocarbons cause global warming
by damaging the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a protective
layer in the earth’s atmosphere which prevents the harmful
radiation of the sun from reaching the earth. The ozone layer is
already damaged by the indiscriminate use of various
chemicals by man.

B. Deforestation
After carbon emissions caused by humans, deforestation
is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Deforestation is responsible for 20-25% of all carbon emissions
entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of about 34
million acres of trees each year. The destroying of tropical
forests alone is throwing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere each year. We are also losing
temperate forests. The temperate forests of the world account
for an absorption rate of 2 billion tons of carbon annually.

Scientists have made several predictions about how global

warming will affect weather, sea levels, coastlines, agriculture,
wildlife, and human health.

A. Weather
During global warming, northern regions of the Northern
Hemisphere will heat up more than other areas of the planet,
northern and mountain glaciers will shrink, and less ice will
float on northern oceans. Regions that now experience light
winter snows may receive no snow at all. In temperate
mountains, snowlines will be higher and snowpacks will melt
earlier. Growing seasons will be longer in some areas. Winter
and nighttime temperatures will tend to rise more than summer
and daytime ones. The warmed world will be generally more
humid as a result of more water evaporating from the oceans.
Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and its increased presence
should add to the insulating effect. On the other hand, more
vapors in the atmosphere will produce more clouds, which
reflect sunlight back into space, which should slow the
warming process. Greater humidity will increase rainfall, on
average, about 1 percent for each Fahrenheit degree of
warming. Storms are expected to be more frequent and more
intense. However, water will also evaporate more rapidly from
soil, causing it to dry out faster between rains. Some regions
might actually become drier than before. Winds will blow harder
and perhaps in different patterns. Hurricanes, which gain their
force from the evaporation of water, are likely to be more
severe. Against the background of warming, some very cold
periods will still occur. Weather patterns are expected to be less
predictable and more extreme.

B. Sea Levels
As the atmosphere warms, the surface layer of the ocean
warms as well, expanding in volume and thus raising sea level.
Warming will also melt much glacier ice, especially around
Greenland, further swelling the sea. Sea levels worldwide rose
10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 in) during the 20th century, and IPCC
scientists predict a further rise of 9 to 88 cm (4 to 35 in) in the
21st century. Sea-level changes will complicate life in many
coastal regions. Erosion of cliffs, beaches, and dunes will
increase. Storm surges, in which winds locally pile up water
and raise the sea, will become more frequent and damaging. As
the sea invades the mouths of rivers, flooding from runoff will
also increase upstream. Wealthier countries will spend huge
amounts of money to protect their shorelines, while poor
countries may simply evacuate low-lying coastal regions. Even
a modest rise in sea level will greatly change coastal
ecosystems. New marshes will form in many places, but not
where urban areas and developed landscapes block the way.
This sea-level rise will cover much of the Florida Everglades.

C. Agriculture
A warmed globe will probably produce as much food as
before, but not necessarily in the same places. Semiarid
tropical farmlands in some parts of Africa may become further
impoverished. Desert farm regions that bring in irrigation water
from distant mountains may suffer if the winter snowpack,
which functions as a natural reservoir, melts before the peak
growing months. Crops and woodlands may also be afflicted by
more insects and plant diseases.

D. Animals and Plants

Animals and plants will find it difficult to escape from or adjust
to the effects of warming because humans occupy so much
land. Under global warming, animals will tend to migrate toward
the poles and up mountainsides toward higher elevations, and
plants will shift their ranges, seeking new areas as old habitats
grow too warm. In many places, however, human development
will prevent this shift. Species that find cities or farmlands
blocking their way north or south may die out. Some types of
forests, unable to propagate toward the poles fast enough, may
disappear.

E. Human Health
In a warmer world, scientists predict that more people will get
sick or die from heat stress, due less to hotter days than to
warmer nights (giving the sufferers less relief). Diseases now
found in the tropics, transmitted by mosquitoes and other
animal hosts, will widen their range as these animal hosts move
into regions formerly too cold for them. Today 45 percent of the
world’s people live where they might get bitten by a mosquito
carrying the parasite that causes malaria; that percentage may
increase to 60 percent if temperatures rise. Other tropical
diseases may spread similarly, including dengue fever, yellow
fever, and encephalitis. Rising incidence of allergies and
respiratory diseases as warmer air grows more charged with
pollutants, mold spores, and pollens.

Chemicals are one of the major contributors to global

warming. Chlorine is very harmful to the environment and we
should avoid using any type of chlorine compounds. Even fire
extinguishers, bubbles in plastic foam, spray paint, bleach,
industrial chemicals and household chemicals are harmful to
the environment. The phosphates found in laundry detergents
and soaps lead to water pollution. Aerosols lead to air pollution.
Controlling pollution will help us control global warming.
We need to reduce the usage of electricity as producing
electricity leads to emission of greenhouse gases. Electricity is
produced mainly from fossil fuels and burning them emits
greenhouse gases. An average home tends to contribute more
to global warming than an average car. We can reduce the
electricity usage by switching to energy efficient CFL bulb
instead of the incandescent light bulbs. Doing so can reduce
the emissions of carbon dioxide by almost 700 pounds over a
bulb’s lifetime. Make sure that the appliances you buy are
energy efficient. Energy efficient appliances are cheaper to run
and can make sure that your energy bill is greatly reduced.
Many countries have energy efficient labels on appliances
which would indicate how energy efficient the appliance is.
Energy spent on heating and cooling our homes are on
the rise. With warmer temperatures, the need for cooling has
increased and that is consuming a lot of energy. The amount of
energy spent on heating and cooling are pretty much wasted by
us. Unless we have good insulation to keep our homes warmer
we will be spending more energy to heat our homes. There are
many ways to ensure that no cold air enters into your homes
and that can reduce the energy used to warm your homes
during winter. Also there are many natural cooling options that
you can use to help you during the summer ensuring that less
energy is spent on heating and cooling your home. Most of the
options are simple and can be done using the do it yourself
kits.
Vehicles emit carbon monoxide which is a greenhouse
gas. With the number of vehicles increasing leaps and bounds,
the carbon monoxide emissions are greatly on the rise. Every
gallon of gasoline that is burnt emits about 26 pounds of
carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Good vehicle
maintenance and smart driving would reduce the emissions by
as much as 30%. If you are buying a new vehicle make sure that
buy an efficient vehicle – something that would give out less
emissions and would go extra miles for a gallon of fuel.
You also have the option of reducing the usage of your
vehicle. Walk whenever you can or ride a bike to the nearest
store. Car pooling is another idea which can help you reduce
emissions. Vehicles running on hybrid fuels are available in the
market nowadays. You can always go for such vehicles as they
tend not to emit any green house gases. Make sure that you
recycle your air conditioner coolant when you have your air
conditioner serviced. Thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide
emitted can be saved by this move. Even small change that you
make to your vehicle and your life style will help your
environment.
We should try whatever is possible to reduce the usage of
energy in and around our homes and yards. Do whatever we
can to ensure that the carbon dioxide emitted into the
atmosphere is reduced. Plants use carbon dioxide for
photosynthesis and during this they give out oxygen. Planting
trees and plants around our homes will help reducing the
carbon dioxide present around as the plants would use up the
carbon dioxide. Lawns need maintenance and an average
lawnmower takes up a lot of energy. So plant more trees and do
use a manual lawnmower to maintain your lawn. Destroying
forests to make way for residential and industrial development
are also reasons for increased global warming. So population
control also can help reduce global warming
Remember, the more aware an individual is about global
warming, the more he or she would contribute in trying to stop
increase in global warming. Let us all work together and curtail
the emission of green house gases and make our world get rid
of global warming. Together we can!

Global Warming is probably mankind’s biggest threat for

the future. It is on the increase everyday and it is effecting
more and more while its effects are accumulating every day.
Our climate system tends to vary through natural, internal
processes. Also external forcing factors like volcanic
emissions, solar activity, orbital forcing and greenhouse gases
are other factors that can affect climate system changes.
Recent study has shown that the increase of greenhouse gases
is a major cause for global warming.
Just adding carbon dioxide or methane to the atmosphere
of earth will make the earth’s surface warmer. Greenhouse
gases are already present in the atmosphere which produces a
greenhouse effect. This greenhouse effect is needed to keep
the earth warm so that it is habitable. But excess greenhouse
gases will result in warmer temperatures and that is exactly
what is happening now.
Over the years there has been a debate concerning the
net effect of the increased greenhouse gases. This debate is
allowing for positive and negative feedback on the issue. An
example of the feedback process is ice-albedo feedback. With
increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, earth’s
surface warms up and this leads to melting of the ice present
near the poles. As ice melts, its place is taken up by water or
land and both of them are less reflective than ice.
This means they will absorb more solar radiation and this
causes more warming. As warming increases more ice will melt
and this cycle keeps going on. The earth’s current climate has
been thrown out of equilibrium due to excess greenhouse
gases. But climate commitment studies do show us that even if
the greenhouse gases are somehow maintained at the present
levels, the earth would experience a further warming of about
1ºF.
If we don’t control the increase in greenhouse gases, then
a lot of changes will occur on planet earth which would only
make living on earth tougher. Hence the need to curtail
emission of greenhouse gases has become a prime focus in
recent years.
Nations around the world are now trying to implement actions
to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Many strategies
have been proposed to this effect. Some of the strategies to
mitigate global warming are energy conservation, carbon taxes,
using renewable energy, carbon offsets, carbon capture and
storage, nanotechnology and environmental vegetarianism. A
combination of these strategies would be beneficial in reducing
the emission of greenhouse gases.
As global warming is a phenomenon occurring all over
the world, countries have to unite and ensure that the
emissions of greenhouse gases are controlled to ensure that
the world we live in now would be worth living in for all of us.
 Therefore, the researcher concludes that global warming
refers to the increase of the average temperature of the
atmosphere, oceans and landmasses of Earth. Simply put,
Earth now is getting hotter. The scientific community believes
climate changes like global warming have occurred throughout
Earth's history and will continue to occur in the future. Some
evidence links global warming to solar activity; however, there
are other theories as well.
One popular theory relates to the "greenhouse effect." Gases
that make up our atmosphere are analogous to a greenhouse in
that they allow sunlight to pass through, and then trap much of
the heat from escaping. This naturally occurring phenomenon
keeps Earth's surface warmer than it would be otherwise.
However, human produced compounds regularly released into
the atmosphere in recent years have "thickened the
greenhouse wall" beyond naturally occurring levels. Even less
heat escapes causing the temperature to rise when this
happens. And the greenhouse gases that cause the global
warming are the water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide. Another distinct issue commonly associated with
greenhouse warming and global warming is the ozone. And
major man made cause of global warming is the CFC’s or the
Chlorofluorocarbon.
This global warming will control if all of us will help
each other to reduce the global warming. We should stop doing
things that are not important and the things that could cause
global warming. We could apply the concept of 3R’s, “Reduce,
Reuse, and Recycle”. Let us all work together and curtail the
emission of green house gases and make our world get rid of
global warming. Together we can!

Websites:
 Globalwarmingpages.com
 Globalwarming.com
 Wikipedia.org
 Encarta.msn.com
 Stopglobalwarming.org
 Ecobridge.com
Books:
Ferrer, Diana L.Science and Technology I.G.
Araneta Ave., cor. Ma. Clara Street. Sta. Mesa
Heights, Quezon City: Vibal Publishing House,
Inc, 1995.