The slowly disappearing ozone layer is extremely dangerous. NASA has announced that the Earth’s ozone layer was deteriorating at a quicker rate than anybody had anticipated (Cooper 291).
In fact, according to Tim Flannery, “…the 1873 levels of ozone were roughly half of that today” (Flannery 214).
Flannery also says that “Ozone makes up just ten molecules of every million in the ocean. Yet without the shielding effect of those ten in a million, we would soon go blind, contract cancer, and succumb to any number of other problems” (Flannery 21-22).
Ozone is a type of oxygen (Flannery 215).
The oxygen you breathe has two atoms of oxygen bonded together. (Flannery 215) However, in the stratosphere, UV rays sometimes include an extraneous atom to join the two (Flannery 215).
This produces ozone (Flannery 215).
Oxygen and Ozone are a bit different. As Tim Flannery states, “Two-atom oxygen is able to block ultraviolet (UV) radiation that comes in wavelengths shorter than 0.28 microns, but ozone can block UV wavelengths between 0.28 and 0.32 microns. It shields us from around 95% of the UV radiation from reaching earth. Without very high sun-protection factor, ultraviolet radiation would kill you fast, by tearing apart you DNA and breaking other chemical bonds within your cell” (Flannery 215-216).
UV radiation can also interfere with photosynthesis, reduce crop yields, and cause cataracts or other health problems in animals. It can also increase cancer cases and lip cancer. Furthermore, UV rays may also harm the immune system of a person. Even though sunscreen protects against skin problems, it doesn’t protect the body against the immunosuppressive effects (Cooper 243).
The Term Paper on Science Of Ozone Oxygen Atom
THE SCIENCE OF OZONE Ozone, though similar to oxygen chemically, is composed of three molecules of oxygen and is usually blue in color with a very strong odor. The atmosphere contains less ozone than the common oxygen. While out of every ten million air molecules, there exist about two million molecules of normal oxygen and only three molecules of ozone. Most of these ozone molecules are typically ...
The ozone layer is extremely important. With the ozone layer depleting, and knowing the consequences of it, wouldn’t it be worth it to stop it, along with global warming?
Part of the problem of the thinning of the ozone layer is the greenhouse effect, which is made worse by human activities (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232).
Burning fossil fuels releases Carbon Dioxide (CO2) (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232).
It is one of the many greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, which then makes the earth’s surface warmer than it should be. (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232).
Another greenhouse gas is chlorine monoxide (Cooper 291).
Chlorine Monoxide is a chemical that depletes ozone, and is a part of a group of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs (Cooper 291).
Not only were there high concentrations of chlorine monoxide, but there was evidence of large amounts of another CFC, called bromine monoxide (Cooper 291).
This chemical is even worse than chlorine monoxide (Cooper 291).
CFCs come from refrigerators, air conditioners, and propellants in aerosol spray (Cooper 291).
When they are in the atmosphere, they go upward until they reach the stratosphere, where the ozone layer is (Cooper 291).
Although CFCs do nothing when they are in their molecular form, strong ultraviolet radiation can split the molecule apart, resulting in the release of chorine monoxide which starts the chemical reactions that destroy ozone (Cooper 291).
Along with high levels of these chemicals, NASA has also found that nitrogen oxides, chemicals that run ozone-destroying chemicals into compounds that don’t affect ozone, are at a reduced level (Cooper 291).
CFCs are the worst of the greenhouse gases (Cooper 291).
They keep more heat and affects global temperatures by more than 20,000 times that of carbon dioxide (Cooper 291).
If CFCs were stopped being released into the atmosphere, then they would continue destroying the ozone layer for more than 100 years (Cooper 292).
The Essay on Global Warming 8
Humankind is conducting an ongoing experiment to see what will happen to our health and to the well being of the planet when changes in the earth's climate are made. This experiment is called global warming. Global warming is allegedly changing the world, as we know it. The concern of global warming is the increasing temperature of the earth's climate, which is expected to warm even further ...
That amount of time is also approximately the time in which the ozone layer would build itself back up (Cooper 292).
As you can see, CFCs are extremely dangerous to the ozone layer, and we should, by all means, try to stop the copious amounts of CFCs being released into the atmosphere, and protect our very important ozone layer.
global warming is a dangerous occurrence that will cause many negative things to the Earth and it’s inhabitants. Global warming is the elevation of the average temperature of the Earth’s surface (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232).
This occurrence is definitely happening right now. Out of the top 20 hottest years, 19 happened in the 1980s or later (“Global Warming The Tipping Point” 28+).
The average temperature on the Earth’s surface has elevated from 0.7 F to 14 F (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232).
Even global ocean temperature has increased by .10 C between the years of 1961 and 2003 (Effects of Global Warming n.pag.).
Plus, the increase in temperature caused by greenhouse gases could increase the number of category 5 hurricanes (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
In fact, the rising temperature of the oceans has caused the percentage of Category 4 and Category 5 hurricanes to double “(Global Warming The Tipping Point” 28+).
Evidence of the increasing temperature is evident everywhere. Russia and Canada have encountered the melting of permafrost, which could potentially lead to the loss of more lakes, which have already started evaporating due to rising temperatures. (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
Global Warming has definitely started. But the predicted long-term effects will be far more devastating than what we are seeing right now.
Of the many long term effects of global warming, I will start with sea level rise. Sea level rise is a direct consequence of Global Warming (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
Sea level rise is caused by the melting of the ice sheets in Antarctica and other places with big ice sheets (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
By 2050, the North Pole might not even have ice (“Global Warming The Tipping Point” 28+).
The Essay on How Global Warming Effect the Environment
Project 1-Research Project Global Warming Westwood College Global Warming is an increase in the Earth’s temperature that is caused by gases, chemicals, and heat trapped or introduced into the Earth’s atmosphere causing temperatures to increase. Everyone here on earth is responsible for Global Warming; it is something that we all are responsible for, instead of pointing the finger at each other we ...
And if the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland were to melt, it would elevate the sea level to 220 ft (“Global Warming The Tipping Point” 28+).
Even the partial melting of ice sheets could elevate sea level by meters as well as the disappearance of low-lying islands (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
Another serious long term effect would be the melting of glaciers. Glacier melting directly causes floods, landslides, glacial lake overflow, and maybe even droughts, as some glaciers are the source of several important rivers in Asia (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
As the temperatures elevate, the glaciers that supply water of the Yangtze, Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, and Yellow rivers could disappear by the year 2035 (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
If this were to happen, the countries of China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar could have numerous floods and droughts through several decades (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
There are also many other serious consequences of global warming. Illness like malaria and dengue could be allowed to spread to more populated places as a result of the warmer climate (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232a).
Crops may stop growing because the temperatures are already almost as high as numerous crops can take (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232a).
Forest fires will happen more often and more frequently, which is caused by the decreased rainfall and a higher risk of drought (“Effects of Global Warming” n.pag.).
If all these effects are predicted to happen, and when the effects are already seen today, how could global warming not be real, and why would you do nothing to stop it?
After explaining what will happen if the ozone layer leaves and if global warming continues to happen, it is time to show what the scientific community thinks about global warming, and how the Kyoto Protocol endorses the existence of global warming. It is apparent people are already scared of global warming. In fact, many countries are already trying to prevent it from ever happening. In 1997, at Kyoto, Japan, 160 nations gathered to write an agreement that is called the Kyoto Protocol (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232b).
It would be taken into effect as a treaty if, according to the World Book, “(1) at least 55 countries ratified it, and (2) the countries ratifying the protocol had CO2 emissions in 1990 that equaled at least 55 percent of the emissions of all 38 industrialized countries in 1990”. After seven years, in 2004, over 100 countries, including the industrialized ones, had ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2003 (Mastrandrea and Schneider 232b).
The Term Paper on Global Warming Fact Or Fiction
Global Warming: Fact or Fiction Outline: Introduction Are the scientists trying to make money? Can we control the Nature Global Warming how the fiction emerged Body CO2 is not a cause of global warming Conclusions are made based on irrelevant data Reputable proponents of man-made global warming theory turn to opponents Conclusion Global Warming is a fiction Humanity is not able to make the climate ...
And in February of 2005, the treaty was taken into effect. Now if a major treaty was created, how could global warming be a hoax or a conspiracy? Could over 100 countries be a part of a government conspiracy? How could that even make sense?
The scientific community concerning global warming is, mostly, comprised of people that believe in it. For example, The European Academy of Sciences and Arts, InterAcademy Council, International Council of Academics of Engineering and Technological Sciences, Network of African Science Academies, and the Royal Society of New Zealand all support the existence of global warming (“Scientific Opinion” n.pag.).
There is America’s own American Meteorological Society, and they believe in global warming (“Scientific Opinion” n.pag.).
“According to The American Meteorological Society, ‘There is now clear evidence that the mean annual temperature at the Earth’s surface, averaged over the entire globe, has been increasing in the past 200 years. There is also clear evidence that the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased over the same period. In the past decade, significant progress has been made toward a better understanding of the climate system and toward improved projections of long-term climate change… Human activities have become a major source of environmental change. Of great urgency are the climate consequences of the increasing atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases… Because greenhouse gases continue to increase, we are, in effect, conducting a global climate experiment, neither planned nor controlled, the results of which may present unprecedented challenges to our wisdom and foresight as well as have significant impacts on our natural and societal systems’ (“Scientific Opinion n.pag.”).
Also, according to the “Network of African Science Academies, ‘A consensus, based on current evidence, now exists within the global scientific community that human activities are the main source of climate change and that the burning of fossil fuels is largely responsible for driving this change’ (“Scientific Opinion” n.pag.).
The Essay on Global Warming 11
Introduction to Global Warming Climate change is neither new nor unusual. Throughout the history of the earth, the average surface temperature, climate and greenhouse gas concentrations have changed, sometimes gradually other times quite sharply. During the past 10,000 years the earth has been in an interglacial period with a fairly stable climate, surface temperature, and greenhouse gas ...
If that is not enough evidence, then there is more. Harris Interactive polled 489 members of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union for STATS (Statistical Assessment Service) (“Scientific Opinion” n.pag.).
It showed that 97% believed that global temperatures have elevated in the past 100 years, 74% agreed that, according to Wikipedia, “currently available scientific evidence substantiates the occurrence of human-induced greenhouse warming”, and 84% agreed that global climate change is a moderate to very great danger to society (“Scientific Opinion” n.pag.).
If that still is not enough, there is one more fact. Of July 2007, no scientific organization of national or international standing is recognized to disagree with the findings of human influence on recent climate (“Scientific Opinion” n.pag.).
This means that all important scientific organizations believe in our influence on climate change. If a treaty has already been made about global warming, and if no organizations are against the existence of our contribution to global warming, how could it not be real? If global warming wasn’t real, how could so many organizations be lying? These people are some of the smartest people on earth. It’s hard to believe that some people are still skeptical. The Kyoto Protocol and the scientific organizations definitely support the existence of global warming.