Running Head: WHAT CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING?

Taipeng Yi Writing Level 5 Randall Rightmire 03/05/12 What Causes Global Warming? Global warming is the situation in which the average temperature of the atmosphere in the troposphere and near the earths surface increases due to changes in global climate changes. Global warming occurs from various causes, some of which are natural while others are human induced. Human causes are significantly higher than natural causes and includes; carbon dioxide emissions, methane emissions, deforestation and increased usage of chemical fertilizers. One of the major causes of global warming is carbon dioxide emissions which can occur either from fossil fuel burnt in power plants or from burning of gasoline for transportation. During electricity generation in power plants, fossil fuel is burnet and an enormous amount of carbon dioxide is release to the atmosphere. Electricity generation is arguably the highest contributor of carbon dioxide. For example, in US, 40% of carbon dioxide emissions come from electricity generation while 93% of emissions come from burning of coals by electric utility industries. On the other hand, carbon dioxide is released when gasoline, which is the main fuel for vehicles, is burnt. This accounts for about 33% of emissions in the United States. Production of carbon dioxide from these fossil fuels, which is a major green house gas, traps heat within the atmosphere and hence contributing to global warming. Emission of methane gas from animals as well as plants is another cause of global warming. Methane gas is released into the atmosphere when breaking down of organic maters takes place in an anaerobic environment. Additionally, herbivorous animals produce methane from

WHAT CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING?

their intestines and more methane is released where they are concentrated. Methane is another example of a green house gas, and hence contributes to global warming effect. The other cause of global warming is deforestation, which is cutting down of trees for wood, firewood and pulp. Trees and other plantation help to remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Deforestation, therefore, results in an increase of carbon dioxide in the environment. In addition, burning of forests increases the releases carbon dioxide and oxides of methane. These gasses contribute to the effect of global warming. Lastly, increased usage of chemical fertilizers in our land contributes greatly to global warming effect. To increase productivity in the farms, people have gone for nitrogen fertilizers as opposed to earlier methods, such as application of manure. This has greatly increased the level of nitrogen in the atmosphere. In addition, plants capture nitrogen and hence increasing it levels. Nitrogen has a very high capacity for heat trapping and hence its use greatly contributes to global warming effects. In conclusion, it is evident that the main cause of global warming is human activities. Global warming effect is accelerated by tapping of the green house gasses within the atmosphere. These gasses are as a result of human activities. Although globalization effect cannot be eliminated entirely, the fact that most of its causes are natural indicates that the effect can be reduced by adopting ways which will lead to minimal green house gases. Some of the measures would be probably to look for alternative methods for electricity generation since this seems to be the biggest contributor of green house gases. Emission of methane is also a high contributor of green house gases and people could reduce this by observing practices such as planting of trees.

WHAT CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING?

Work Cited Ponce Vitor Miguel. The 33 facts about Global Warming. 27 Feb. 2012 <http://globalwarming.sdsu.edu/global_warming_facts_doc.html> Derek Markham. Global Warming Effects and Causes. June 7,2009. 27Feb, 2012 <http://planetsave.com/2009/06/07/global-warming-effects-and-causes-a-top-10-list/> Environment Global Warming and Greenhouse Effect. World Almanac 2000. Mahwah: world Almanac book, 2000. Power Scorecard. Electricity and the Environment January 2002. 27Feb, 2012. <http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm>