Environmental Issues

Global warming is the general gradual increase in global temperatures as more heat energy is retained within the atmosphere. The global warming phenomenon is mainly caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxide. When the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, they form sort of a blanketlayer. Solar energy from the sun through the atmosphere onto the earths surface has short wave radiations which are capable of penetrating through the greenhouse gases and thus reach the surface of the earth. Once the short wave radiation of the sun hits the earths surface, they are transformed into less penetrative long or terrestrial radiation. Since the atmosphere is heated from below by the outgoing radiation, presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to increased temperatures. This is due to the fact that the long wave radiation is not capable of penetrating through the greenhouse gases, which in turn implies that more heat energy is trapped and prevented from escaping into the space by the greenhouse gases and thus cause global warming (Braasch, 2010).

Greenhouse gases are mainly introduced into the atmosphere by human activities which lead to the production of these gases as part of their byproducts. Burning of fossil fuels is the chief source of these gases since they produce large quantities of carbon dioxide which is the main greenhouse gas. High concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere are also experienced as a result of massive deforestation around the world. Trees and other green plants naturally use carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis process thus reducing carbon concentration in the atmosphere. Therefore, when trees are cut down in large numbers, the carbon sink capacity is reduced and thus more carbon is retained in the atmosphere. The United States and other developed nations are the main source of greenhouse gases. They have massive industrial undertakings in their nations which contribute thousands of tones of these gases everyday (Weart, 2008).

Global warming is real and there is significant evidence to that effect the higher temperatures have led to melt down of ice water in the extra tropics which have resulted into the  rise of sea temperature the amount of ice covering high mountains such as Mt. Everest, Mt. Kenya and others have greatly reduced over the years because of the higher temperatures and within the same period when global warming is said to have greatly accelerated that is since early 1990s, climate has changed significantly (Maslin, 2007). For example, drought frequency and severity has increased, while rainfall distribution both spatially and temporally has changed dramatically.

Global warming is basically caused by human beings since it is their activities which have altered the composition of the atmosphere. According to Maslin (2007), reliable data sources such as NOAA, clearly indicates that the mean global temperatures have increased dramatically since the 1990s and there is significant direct correlation between the higher concentration of greenhouse gases and rise in global temperatures. Furthermore, even though climate has always been changing, it is more rapid in the global warming era.

Global warming is real and it continues to take place even now and it is primarily caused by human beings. It is human beings activities which lead to production of thousands of tones of these gases everyday. Global warming brings about several drastic and radical changes to our environment. One of the best ways of dealing with these challenges is by adapting to them. The other solution is by planting more trees allover the world in order to enhance the capacity of the natural carbon sink. The developed nations can also be compelled by resolutions made in international conventions on climate change to reduce greenhouse gases emissions.