Global Warming is a Warning!!

Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It allows light to pass through but traps heat. Here’s how it works: CO2 absorbs certain wavelengths of energy. This means that radiation from the sun can enter the atmosphere as light. Once this radiation hits the ground, it turns into heat. This heat then radiates back into the atmosphere and out into space. CO2 traps some of the heat.

CO2 has gone from roughly 280 ppm (parts per million) in the atmosphere before the industrial revolution to about 380 ppm now. Each year humans pump out about 6 billion tons of CO2 with an annual growth rate of about 1.9% predicted between 2001 - 2025 (although actual emissions growth was 3.2% per year from 2000 to 2005).

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By making simple changes, you can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and help stop global warming.

CO2 remains in the air for about 100 years, so even if we stopped emitting it right now we would still feel the effects for decades.

CO2 and temperature have increased and decreased together over the history of the planet.

For further examples there are icebergs melting in Antarctica and Alaska for nothing other than Global Warming because those icebergs are what those places are known for and for all of sudden to begin melting gradually year after year is astounding and frightening all at the same time. There are singers, such as Sheryl Crow, that have had songs that dealt with telling audiences about Global Warming, that it is real and beginning to surface. In Melbourne, Fl they “endured 24 days above 95 degrees and Tampa remained above 80 degrees F at nighttime for 12 days” (climatehotmap.org).

There are steps to prevent Global Warming such as “minimizing drafts in your home, reducing your waste electricity use, using more efficient light bulbs, turning down your water heater, and being the change you wish to see” (energyefficienthomearticles.com). These are simple steps to help make the world a better place. Doing your research on Global Warming and what other organizations are doing in order to prevent Global Warming is important because we as people caused Global Warming slowly but surely and we need to learn how to prevent it from continuing to happen.

The warming trend over the last 50 years (0.13°C per decade) is nearly twice the rate for the last 100 years. Temperatures in the atmosphere and in the oceans (to depths of at least 3000m) have also been rising, along with water vapor content of the atmosphere.

Model of Projections in Arctic sea ice in the 2050s compared to the 1950s (based on the Geophysical
Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's R30 atmosphere-ocean general circulation model)

Figure of Carbon Dioxide emissions by sector

Model of The Greenhouse Gasses that are the causes of our Climate Change

The causes and effects of Global Warming are real. What we decide to do about it is up to everyone of us. The first, and most important, course of action we can take is to make a major shift to renewable energy sources. Wind power, solar energy, ocean energy, and geothermal power are energy sources we have to utilize on a major scale if we are to succeed in stopping this man-made climate change. The ecology of our planet is at stake. This is not something you would like to reminisce about and say: "If only we did something". Keep Smiling!