Global Warming

Elizabeth Petersen
Geology 1010 (8:30 am Tuesday and Thursday)
December 1, 2016
LINK
Team Members: Brandy Stevens, Mariela Mondragon, Rebekah Groneman
Rebekah Groneman

Abstract
Due to the burning of fossil fuels, the concentration of greenhouse gases have risen in the
atmosphere. This has caused the atmosphere to have an increased capability to trap the heat from

solar radiation and raise the Earths average surface temperature -as of now up 2 degrees Celsius.
Due to this rise in temperature, glaciers and sea ice has been melting faster than they can be
replenished. This, in turn, has caused sea level to rise above the normal rate. It is estimated, that
by 2100, the sea level will rise high enough where it will submerge many coastline cities if
humanity does not intervene and put in place measure to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the
production of greenhouse gases.
Over the past 250 years, the Earths average surface temperature has been rising at an
unusually rapid pace (Riebeek, 2010). This rise in temperature is due to humanitys large-scale
use of fossil fuels as a source of energy. These fossil fuels, once burned, release greenhouse
gases -namely carbon dioxide and methane- and over time have caused the increased the
concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere making it so the atmosphere traps a larger
amount of solar radiation. This increased concentration of greenhouse gas within the atmosphere
will negatively impact the biosphere.
While, as previously mentioned, the atmosphere should naturally have a concentration of
greenhouses gasses within it, otherwise, the Earth would be unable to trap the heat of solar
radiation, the concern comes from how high this concentration is and how quickly it is
increasing. In January 1959, the concentration of carbon dioxide was at 315 parts per million
(ppm). With the most recent measurements, according to Kennedy (2016), the concentration has
passed the 400 ppm -the first time on record that carbon dioxide has hit this concentration- and is
now up to 403 ppm; nearly a 30% increase over 57 years.
With the concentration increase of greenhouse gases, Earths average surface
temperature, as of 2016, has risen up 2 degrees Celsius since the 1950s. Rising up 2 degrees was
believed to be the turning point for global warming. At this stage, once reached, it was predicted

that global warming would not only further speed up, but also start to have serious negative
impacts worldwide such as massive flooding,caused by ice sheets melting, as the sea level
rises(Holthaus, 2016).
As previously mentioned, this 2-degrees Celsius temperature rise impacts the biosphere
by melting glaciers and sea ice and rising sea levels (Selin 2015). Glaciers and sea ice are
melting at a rate faster than they can be replenished by snowfall due to the temperature rise. This
year, in particular, 2016, has been unusually warm in Arctic areas -as much as 10 degrees Celsius
above average in some places (Holthaus 2016)- and also had the warmest February that has been
recorded. These record high temperatures have helped set record lows with Arctic sea ice (Laden
2016).
Due to the ice melting, the sea level is rising. While the sea level normally rose a rather
small amount of 10 to 20 centimeters within the last century - about a millimeter a year. In the
last 20 years of that century -present time-, the global sea level has gone up by 0.32 millimeters
(National Geographic). It is thought that if Arctic ice sheets are allowed to continue to melt at
the rate they are, by 2100 will rise by 0.8 to 2 meters with a low estimate. Some higher estimates
put the sea level rise -granted they are predicting a higher rate of ice sheets melting- at a far
higher prediction of 7 meters (National Geographic).
Such a high rise in sea level will submerge many cities along the coast line and even
islands due to them being at or below current sea level - for example New Orleans, New York,
and Shanghai. With some of the higher estimates for sea level rise, the United States is predicted
to experience the loss of up to 7% of its land to the rising water (Peasland 2016). While
measures can be taken in order to lessen the impact of the rising sea level, the higher dykes

needed would be expensive enough - about 3 million USD a km (ECAP 2015)- where most
cities will probably not implement them.
The greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels is causing the atmosphere to
retain heat and rising the average surface temperature for the Earth. This rise in temperature is
negatively impacting the biosphere and, according to predictions, will cause enough of a rise in
sea level where cities will be flooded unless measures are taking to prevent it.

References
1. Kennedy, C. (2016, May 20). Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.
Retrieved November 23, 2016, from https://www.climate.gov/newsfeatures/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide
2. Holthaus, E. (2016, March 12). Our Planets Temperature Just Reached a
Terrifying Milestone. Retrieved November 23, 2016, from
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/03/01/february_2016_s_shocking_global_
warming_temperature_record.html

3. Riebeek, H. (2010, June 3). Global Warming. Retrieved November 27, 2016, from
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php
4. Selin, H. (2015, January 14). Https://www.britannica.com/science/globalwarming. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from https://www.britannica.com/science/globalwarming
5. Laden, G. (2016, February 24). Are we witnessing an Arctic Sea meltdown, right
now? Retrieved December 1, 2016, from
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2016/02/24/are-we-witnessing-an-arctic-seameltdown-right-now
6. Sea Level Rise. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2016, from
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/
7. Samenow, J. (2016, March 1). February was Earths warmest month in the
satellite record. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/01/februarywas-earths-warmest-month-in-satellite-record/?sdfsdfsdfsfsdfsdfsdfsdf
8. Adaptation or improvement of dikes and dams (2015). (2015). Retrieved
December 1, 2016, from http://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/adaptationoptions/adaptation-or-improvement-of-dikes-and-dams
9. Major cities threatened by rapid sea level rise, new reports find. (2016). Retrieved
December 1, 2016, from http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/02/22/major-citiesincreasingly-threatened-by-rapid-sea-level-rise-new-reports-find/

[Digital image]. (2010, June 3). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page2.php