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Global Warming And Our Oceans part 1 Essay - 4,790 words

Global Warming and Our Oceans Global warming and climate change has become one of the most heated environmental issues
recently that has triggered a lot of controversial responses. Because sunlight is constantly falling on the earth, the law of physics
says that the planet has to radiate the same amount of energy back into space. Infrared radiation is sent out by the earth through the
atmosphere, where molecules (carbon dioxide) hold outgoing radiation for a while, warming the surface. The molecules are kind of
like glass in a greenhouse which is why this process of warming is called the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect has been
operating since the beginning of time. Without the effect, the surface of the earth would be -20 degrees Celsius, oceans would have
frozen, and there would be no life on earth.

The Washington Post has reported that the earth is warmer than it has been in 1,200 years. Recently, the summer of 1999 set
records for heat in much of the United States. The average world temperature has increased one degree Fahrenheit over the last 120
years, making the world hotter than it has been in 100,000 years. (Philander 77) From the beginning of the industrial revolution,
concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased by 30%, concentrations of methane have doubled, and nitrous oxide has risen by
15%. (Philander 79) The increases of these chemicals have enhanced the heat trapping capability of the atmosphere of the earth.
Sulfate aerosols, cool the atmosphere because they reflect light back into space, but sulfates do not live long in the atmosphere.
Scientists still do not know what exactly is heating up the earth.

Some say the earth is going through a natural cycle because the earth has gone through cold periods as well as hot periods.
Mounting evidence is saying that humans are to blame for the rise in temperatures over the past 120 years. When we burn fossil
fuel, oil, gasoline, and natural gas to run power plants, cars, and heat homes, we produce carbon dioxide. An increase in carbon
dioxide magnifies the greenhouse effect. All this energy accounts for 80% of societys carbon dioxide emissions, 25% of methane
emissions, and 20% of nitrous oxide emissions. (Ramankutty 38) In 1994, the U.S. emitted one fifth of all the greenhouse gases in
the earth. Carbon dioxide amounts are now 360 parts per million today, verses 315 per million parts in 1958, when modern
technology started, and 270 per million parts in pre-industrial times. (Ramankutty 39) Scientists cannot actually predict what the
climate will be like in the future, though. James E.

Hansen, a director of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says that scientists know too little about the climate to make
accurate predictions. In 2000, oceanographers demonstrated that warming is now detectable in the top 10,000 feet of much of the
world's oceans. One question that has always troubled climatologists is how long it takes a change in the atmosphere and near-
surface temperatures to be reflected in that deeper ocean. To get a handle on this, we could compare temperatures in the thin
oceanic surface layer with those in the deep (10,000-foot) column. There has to be some type of lag, and that lag can help to define
how long it takes overall temperature to come to grips with what humans are doing to the atmosphere. Correlation between surface
ocean temperatures and those in the surfaceto-10,000-foot depth.

The correlation reaches a maximum at around 35 to 40 years. The Bush Administration ignores the terror of environmental peril and
denies the reality of 2,500 United Nations scientists, who tell us that unless we find ways to stop global warming, sea levels could
swell up to 35 feet, submerging millions of homes under our present-day oceans. NASA climate scientist James Hansen explained to
her how such a storm was consistent with global warming because global warming heats up the oceans surface. That evaporates more
water. Then, when it's cold, all that water vapor makes more snow. Note that this was during the period when Hansen said that
emphasis on extreme scenarios may have been appropriate. A cursory inspection of the dynamics of mid-Atlantic snowstorms
reveals that their limiting factor usually is cold air, not the air's moisture content. The coastal cyclones that cause mid-Atlantic
snowstorms typically produce a lot more rain than snow.

As a consequence, unless warming causes cooling of the thin wedges of cold air required to make it snow in the mid-Atlantic. The
forcing that drive long-term climate change are not known with accuracy sufficient to define future climate change, Hansen said.
(Houghton 93) Many people believe that carbon dioxide is nothing to worry about. And many scientists are turning away from the
debate about whether human-induced global warming is taking place. It is true that Earths ocean, plants, soil, and animals naturally
release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And other gases such as methane and water vapor trap solar radiation like the way a
greenhouse traps the suns warmth. Human activities are adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than are being naturally
recycled.

This is what scientist believe is causing global warming. And what are the effects of global warming? Rising temperatures are
expected to raise the sea level and change local climate conditions. By changing these conditions, the climate could alter forests,
water supplies, and crop yields. This could also threaten human health, and harm many ecosystems of animals. Deserts could expand
into range lands and many National Parks could be altered. And many of the most important impacts depend upon whether rainfall
will increase or decrease. The rate of climate change is also much more important than how much the change will be because the rate
will determine whether humans and ecosystems can adapt to survive.

A decreased day and night temperature and night warming may happen when an increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases takes
place. Emissions are a major problem contributing to the greenhouse effect. These gases are called volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and consist mostly of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. These gases react in sunlight with nitrogen oxides to form
photochemical smog. A lab experiment was done to simulate typical outside conditions. Stems of fescue grass and white clover were
cut and tested for VOC content and researchers found that emissions of certain VOCs spiked immediately after cutting, while others
continued at a high rate for the next two days. Uncut grass also gives off VOCs and cutting grass makes it worse.

In a city like Los Angeles, mowing accounts for 10% of the VOCs in the atmosphere, say researchers. (Houghton 140) President Bill
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore had different stands on the global warming issue. Al Gore was pushing for a radical stand and
wanted to cut back on emissions to ten percent below the levels of 1990 and this would require a 20% cut in the fossil fuel usage. Al
Gore even called for a White House conference with weather forecasters saying that the U.S. should fund more abortions in order to
cut down on the number of people populating our world. (Houghton 146) Gore believed that Americans would be thankful in the long
run for him saving the world from ecological disaster. Not many people seem to be in favor of a rise in taxes on energy so we can cut
usage and stop the warming tre
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