The prevailing counter opinion is that all that is presently perceived to be global warming is simply the result of a normal climactic swing in the direction of increased temperature. Many proponents of this global warming ideology have definitive social and financial interests in these claims.

Global warming and climate change are aspects of our environment that cannot be easily or quickly discounted. Many factions still strongly feel that the changes our Earth is seeing are the result of a natural climatic adjustment. Regardless of one’s perspective the effects of global warming are  a quantifiable set of environmental results that are in addition to any normal changes in climate. That is why the effects of global warming have catastrophic potential. Global warming may well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It could turn out to be the difference between a category three hurricane and a category four. Global warming as caused by greenhouse gas emissions can lead us to a definite imbalance of nature.

The premise of global warming as an issue of debate is that industrial growth coupled with non-structured methods we as humans use to sustain ourselves has created a situation where our planet is getting progressively hotter. We have seemingly negatively effected our environment by a cycle of harmful processes that now seem to be feeding upon themselves to exponentially increase the damage to our ecosystem.

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Most modern attention to the problem of global warming began with discussion of depletion of the Earth’s Ozone layer. Ozone (O3) is a molecular form of Oxygen. The Ozone layer is a relatively thin strata of these molecules set in the lower portion of the Earth’s stratosphere.
Depletion of the Earth’s Ozone layer has resulted in a large increase in Ultra Violet Radiation reaching the surface of the earth. Does this increase in UV rays equate to global warming? Not really. In fact most scientific opinion is that depletion of the Ozone layer results in cooling of both the stratosphere and troposphere. So why mention depletion of the Ozone layer as regards to global warming? Because it represents a needed balance between harmful radiation being allowed to reach the earth’s surface and our desire to stem the rapid increase in our air and water temperature. Remember, we are viewing global warming as a chain of events.

What is the most significant cause of global warming?

The primary cause of global warming is Carbon Dioxide emissions. CO2 is being pumped into our atmosphere at an insane pace; 8 billion tons of CO2 entered the air last year. Of course some of this is due to natural activity such as volcanic eruptions and people breathing. But the Earth is equipped to easily absorb those into the normal regenerative process. No, the beginning of global warming was caused by fossil fuels being burned and emitting plenty of CO2.

Currently in the world 40% of all CO2 emissions are caused by power plants. These are burning coal, natural gas and diesel fuel. Some power plants burn garbage. Some burn methane made from garbage. And discounting those super green electrical generating plants designed to issue negligible pollutants, all of our power plants let loose into the atmosphere CO2.

33% of all the CO2 sent forth is the product of cars and trucks. Internal combustion engines burning fossil fuels…gasoline and diesel spew forth a retching amount of CO2.

3.5% of all CO2 emissions are released from aircraft traveling our friendly skies. Unfortunately, jets and other aircraft deliver their payload of pollutants directly into the troposphere.

The numbers can be confusing

12% of all CO2 released into the atmosphere is related to buildings. This figure varies from one source to the next. Some place the percentage of emissions from buildings as high as 33%. What most of these figures do not address is the actual cause of the CO2 emissions. In newly constructed buildings, production of materials used in building and energy used during construction are sited as the cause of carbon dioxide emissions. In existing buildings the CO2 created by the energy upkeep of the building is the root of the emissions quotient. The general comparison is that buildings consume energy in the way that cars burn fuel. But the pollutants created in providing power for heating, air-conditioning, lights and other usage in buildings has already been factored. Honestly this double billing accounting is more the product of auto manufacturers looking to point the blame for global warming away from gas guzzling cars.

The point to remember is that 98% of all CO2 emissions are related to energy production and 80% of these emissions become greenhouse gases.

Continuing the chain…

Which now mentioned allows us to follow our chain of event’s leading to global warming into the next most defined cause… Methane gas. Methane is released into the atmosphere from a dozen major sources. These include natural and man made emissions. Natural release of Methane is primarily from wetlands, (including agriculture) termites, the ocean, and hydrates. Non-organic releases are based from, landfills, livestock, waste treatment, and biomass burning. (More energy production). Almost all of this is offset by the Earth’s ability to absorb around 97% of the methane released into the air. But that remaining 3% is a serious problem. The molecular structure of Methane makes it 20 times as powerful a Greenhouse gas than CO2. So while there is a great deal less Methane to contend with than CO2, it is still the second largest link in the global warming events chain.
Not every Greenhouse gas is as obvious a villain as Methane. The next most potent problem is simple H2O water. How can water be a cause of global warming? Our atmosphere contains a set parameter of water as vapor. This vapor absorbs and radiates heat as does every molecule in the air. But when the lower atmosphere (troposphere) has excess water vapor that gaseous H2O is a potent greenhouse gas.
Another of the more commonplace greenhouse gases is Nitrous Oxide. NO2 can make your car go faster, or make you relax at the dentist. It has quite few beneficial uses. But as a greenhouse gas all it manages to accomplish is to be one more ingredient in out atmospheric soup. Cars using catalytic converters, fertilizer plants, manufacture of nylon, and nitric acid as well as being produced naturally in our oceans and rain forests, produce Nitrous Oxide.
All of the above plus quite a few other greenhouse gases comprise the foundation of global warming. As above and in all discussion of global warming they are cumulatively referred to as greenhouse gases. To understand the importance of these as the start and endpoint of global warming we must digress into a brief explanation of the greenhouse effect.

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This is fine if you are an orchid or other tropical plant. But living things, including people, require set parameters of climate. When we discuss the greenhouse effect as regarding global warming we place the effect into a specific environment. That is the Earth’s atmosphere. When referencing the Earth, our entire planet becomes the interior of an automobile in the heat of summer. The Earth of course does not have a metal roof or a glass dome around it to trap heat and reflect solar radiation back to its surface. Indeed when drawings depict and descriptions explain the greenhouse effect the principle is simplified to imply that this is the case. Actually the greenhouse effect for the Earth is somewhat different.

When solar radiation passes through out atmosphere the molecules that constitute our air absorb it. The majority of solar heat is absorbed by our planet’s surface. Different types of surfaces absorb or reflect heat in different ways. A white blanket of snow will reflect much more heat than freshly paved asphalt. Still everything that the sun’s rays fall upon either absorbs or reflects heat. In the case of out snowy Polar Regions that heat is reflected back from the planet. In the case of our cities it is trapped on the surface. From there it radiates outward where living things attempt to adjust to the relative heat or cold. Our planet’s original design was for a balance of all the components. Our atmosphere absorbs enough heat to keep us warm but hopefully not bake us. The angle of the sun in areas such as the poles creates an environment suited to North and South Pole inhabitants. The people, creatures and plant life at the Earth’s equator have acclimated to their section of the world.

The greenhouse effect occurs planet wide when solar radiation either bounces off of or is radiated forth from the earth and instead of passing through our atmosphere and outward into space, is absorbed by all kinds of extra amounts of and extraneous gases and particles. These gases et al absorb heat and then radiate it outward in all directions, one of those directions, being the surface of the Earth. From there the process repeats itself until we have a global version of a car with the windows rolled up parked in the noonday sun.

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The next grouping of events concerns what happens when the small percentage of increased heat on our planet’s surface and in our air begins to effect long standing conditions.
Currently the measured effect of global warming as caused by the greenhouse effect on the planet overall is approximately a 1 degree Celsius increase over the last 50 years. This would seem to mean nothing. One asks, “How could one degree more or less effect anyone or anything.” In terms of that “anyone”, the effect of a one-degree difference in ambient temperature will probably go unnoticed. Our bodies are designed to adjust to a huge range of climatic conditions. No one of us will notice that today it is 71 degrees outside and fifty years ago it would have been 70. The human body will adjust and adapt even if the average temperature globally were to increase by ten degrees. Chances are we would set off a huge oblivious migration to more temperate areas. But that little one-degree change manages to set out of kilter an incredible array of environmental forces.

Permafrost

While that one-degree of heat made you take off a sweater, segments of the Earth known as permafrost began a meltdown. Permafrost is a condition whereby sections of the Earth’s surface have remained at a temperature below freezing (0 degrees Celsius) for at least two years. Literally, it means permanently frozen soil. In actuality, most permafrost regions have been frozen for thousands of years. A large portion of the Arctic is permafrost. During summer months these areas seem to be thawed as they permit a two to twelve foot layer of soil to grow vegetation. But beneath that summer season lays a still frozen core. These frozen strata of the Earth lock away huge amounts of gaseous content with the highest concentrations of gases held in check by permafrost being Carbon dioxide and Methane gas. That one-degree increase in overall temperature is allowing millions of underground acres of permafrost to defrost and release even more greenhouse gas.

Tundra

In a similar vein frozen areas know as Tundra are also experiencing a subtle warming. Tundra describes the soil above permafrost that is frozen for most of the calendar year but thaws for allowance of small amounts of vegetation growth. Areas of Tundra throughout the world serve as sinks for absorption of massive amounts of Carbon. As these areas begin to exist for more months of the year above freezing they both release their stores of Carbon and cease to function as greenhouse gas depositories.
The extremist view is that within another half century global warming will simultaneously melt the arctic tundra releasing billions of tons of harmful greenhouse gases and ignite the world’s rainforests destroying our planet’s ability to create oxygen. Such a viewpoint is falsely alarming and without basis. The real danger of global warming is sufficient without need to exaggerate.

Polar meltdown

The increase, albeit slight in overall temperature the planet is now in the midst of, is more than sufficient to cause catastrophic effect. Take for example our next link in the chain of events feeding the effect of global warming. That is the warming of our polar caps and oceans. An increase in overall temperature for the troposphere allows that segment of the atmosphere to absorb more water vapor. Much as we set a dew point for condensation of moisture on the earth’s surface, the atmosphere has an evaporation point allowing a larger volume off gaseous H2O to exist. A simple linear logic would allow that a 1 percent increase in overall water temperature throughout the earth’s atmosphere might allow a corresponding 1% increase in airborne vapor. In truth there is a non-linear curve to this dialectic, but the general principle follows suit and allows for our explanation. A 1% increase in water vapor is a huge increase to the overall amount of greenhouse emissions. The problem however is not caused by the increase whether it is 1% or 1000th of one percent. The problem is that each release of an unchecked amount of greenhouse gas precipitates a further release. So if we add excess water vapor to our ecosystem it then further heats the atmosphere so as to allow even more water vapor to encroach.

Ocean Temperatures and Positive Feedback

Our oceans digest most of the carbon footprint needing to be absorbed into our ecosystem. But, if we raise the temperature of the oceans by as little as 1/10th of one percent that ability to absorb and neutralize excess CO2 is compromised.

Currently greenhouse gas emissions from production of energy and internal combustion engines results in a 36% increase in carbon dioxide over that which the planets normal balance can support. This results in a subtle increase in temperature that just happens to be enough to melt some of the Earth’s permafrost, which then releases even more CO2. The CO2 then slightly raises the Earth’s temperature resulting in an endlessly looping progression. This situation and scenario is known as positive feedback and this is the real danger inherent as global warming.
We can follow our ever-expanding chain of events further to a point where man is more directly affected.

Environmental causes

Gaseous emissions are the largest issue as a cause for global warming. But simple environmental issues still manage to total together and create a factor that is in no way to be discounted as unimportant.

The greenhouse effect has caused our Polar Ice Caps to reduce in size by 20% since 1979. This has resulted in more land and sea area being exposed to absorb heat from the sun and as our continual cycle suggests create more excess heat, which in turn melts more polar ice.

Not all of global warming is the result of greenhouse gases and the ensuing greenhouse effect. As the population of the earth has increased mankind has brought civilization to almost every corner of the globe. Civilization includes buildings, highways, land cleared for agriculture, cities built where once stood deserts. Almost everything that we build absorbs more heat than its natural predecessor.

For hundreds of years we have sheared the tops off of mountains and burned down millions of acres of forest just to look for precious metals. We clear ten thousand year old growth areas just find hardwoods for lumber. We are still clearing the Brazilian Rain Forests so cattle can be raised on the grassy plains we create. And the semi-comical side of this is that we have simultaneously destroyed lush plant life that would have through photosynthesis turned CO2 into oxygen, so as to grow cattle, which are raised in such abundance that their flatulence (Methane) is a measurable greenhouse emission.

This is not to suggest that we tear down all of our houses to plant a forest of trees and carve up the superhighways and replace them with lovely green meadows. What we do need is an awareness of our situation. We need to realize that every move we make as a result of industrialization has a corresponding consequence.

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Still, let us once again follow a chain of events so as to be able to completely envision the scale and scope of the problem.

Rising sea levels

Rising sea levels are an easily measurable effect of global warming. As Polar ice melts down the water created obviously must go somewhere. Aside from that ice which joins inland fresh water reservoirs, the vast majority of melted ice joins the pool of the oceans. Most people misunderstand the effect of polar meltdown and consider that this addition to our oceans creates the overall rise in sea levels. This is hardly the case. The rise in sea levels due to global warming is primarily caused by thermal expansion. In short when you heat a liquid (such as sea water) it expands. Sea levels are currently on a pace to rise at a rate of approximately 1 inch every ten years. Such a small change seems as if it could never affect quality of life for people living in such distant from the oceans locations as Denver, Colorado.

Yet this is precisely the scenario by which we are all affected. Obviously people living in low laying areas such as coastal Florida and Louisiana will most directly be affected. A one hundred year model that allows for the current progression of global warming factors would result in millions of acres of land mass lost in these areas. Still we have set our viewpoint in the Rocky Mountains not Holland or the eastern coast of England, both of which are teetering at or below sea level.

Salt water intrusion

Our Denver citizen might enjoy bottled water from Zephyrhills, Florida or any of the hundreds of fresh water springs gushing forth in the sunshine state. Salt-water intrusion as a result of rising sea levels could easily destroy a huge percentage of the potable water available in this and other coastal states. Agricultural products of low-lying areas around the world will face shortfalls. Production of fruits and vegetables is dependent on a stable set of environmental conditions. Ever hear of the Indian River? Well most of America’s grapefruit is grown there along the Florida coast and should we follow the expected loss of coastline for all of the Southern US which is projected at a possible 2 mile inward loss of coastline over the next 75 years. Both the Indian River and Indian River Grapefruit will no longer exist. 50% of American produce is grown in our low laying areas. A major effect of global warming is that agricultural production will be decreased. Our planet will be unable to grow as much food.

Beach erosion

A major secondary effect of rising sea levels is massive beach erosion. Our Colorado vacationer will find the endless stretches of sandy beaches he enjoys on his winter vacation have withered away to a few hundred yards here and there. But a shortened tourist base is hardly a world catastrophe…is it? Tourism pumps over 50 Billion dollars a year into Florida’s economy. North Carolina and Louisiana earn 15 billion dollars each through tourism. In fact every US state and every nation on Earth with mild climate and a sandy shore depends upon financial gain from tourism to sustain its economy.

Lest we dwell only on financial impact consider that loss of coastal acreage will displace thousands of species of animal and plant life.

Extreme weather

Perhaps the most commonly conceived notion as to the effects of global warming is that of cataclysmic weather. In fervor to promote the cause, too often we see graphic depictions of raging floods, category 12 hurricanes and dozens of tornadoes sweeping the landscape. These same depictions seem to serve those who accept the threat of global warming and those who reject the possibility. One agenda hopes to frighten the world into an austere program of self-denial so as to instantly curb global warming causes. The other faction points out that currently there are no typhoons sweeping across Kansas so therefore global warming is a but a myth. As always when dealing with scientific anomalies the truth lies nicely hidden in between.

Category 4 and 5 hurricanes have risen in frequency from 20 to 35% over the last 30 years. Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, frequency of hurricanes overall has risen by almost 40% and the those hurricanes now making landfall deposit almost 10% more rainfall than their pre 1970 counterparts. As an effect of global warming hurricanes are stronger, wetter and more numerous. Hurricane Fay from 2007 created massive flooding over a dozen states. This increase in storm activity is directly related to a wider variance between warm and cold ocean waters. Consider that the measurement of temperature rise in ocean waters is based on an overall average. Storms are created by the extremes that create that average.
Global warming produces as byproducts, variance in the jet stream, wind sheer, greater quantity of cyclones, and drought.

Increased rainfall

If we increase the temperature of the air it is able to absorb more moisture in the form of water vapor. If we cool the air that vapor becomes liquid and falls to the earth as rain. The greater the amount of water vapor the atmosphere absorbs the greater the amount of rainfall we will receive during the normal process of reaching a dew point or other yard stick of precipitation. This increased rainfall results in drastically increased erosion. Areas such as Colorado’s Platte River long noted for the devastation following its hundred-year floods can in no way accommodate that same volume of water arriving every decade. Erosion is vulnerable tropical areas such as Africa results in native plant life dying off and a resultant desertification.
Evaporation, by definition is a cooling process. So why then is this increased evaporation not countering global warming? Because the water vapor that enters the atmosphere counters the cooling process while acting as a greenhouse gas. It should be pointed out that change in climate for targeted areas can often result in a plus side modification meaning that adding water to dry areas usually results in those areas being able to support vegetation.

Destabilization of local climates

The overall destabilization of local climates is a major effect of global warming. The Arctic is home to over 4 million people. Canada, Russia, and Alaska are dealing with a tremendous rise in bacterial growth as permafrost regions warm.
Glaciers in the northern hemisphere have decreased in size by 50% over the last 100 years. This particular meltdown has resulted in landslides; flash floods and lake overflow through out the Andes, Alps, Pyrenees, Himalayas, and Rocky Mountains. These seasonal meltdowns are followed by seasonal droughts. Global warming creates climate extremes. We may measure the average but we live with the outcome of the extremes. The slow steady melting of the Himalayas results in the steady flow of water of the Ganges River. The Ganges is the lifeblood of over 500 million people. To say this plainly, if we melt all of our fresh water too quickly and send it out to blend with the ocean billions of people, including our friend in Denver, Colorado will go thirsty.

Acidic Oceans

Our Oceans are the Earth’s largest sink for the absorption of CO2 from our atmosphere. As excess CO2 is dealt with, the oceans in an effort to balance the ecosystem have become saturated with CO2. This has resulted in production of mild carbonic acid and is known as ocean acidification. While this is an extremely slight change in the ph (acid to base) balance of the seas it does result in damage to corals. Coral reefs are home to the vast majority of undersea life.
Ocean acidification coincides with Oxygen depletion in our oceans. Heavier CO2 molecules are supplanting oxygen. Less oxygen equals less fish.

Drought

As temperature swings increase we are left with flooding in some areas and drought in others the drought creates correct conditions for forest fires. These fires, like our hurricanes, are suddenly emerging on a much grander scale. The 2009 fires raging through Australia and the 2002 fires in Florida serve as excellent examples. Massive fires release much more carbon as both particle and molecule than can readily be absorbed. Once again prevalent anti global warming as reality belief is that these fires can only be considered a natural effect of the ecosystem and as the forests are a naturally renewing resource should be discounted as an effect of global warming. However with global warming defined as a premise of additional stress on our environment we come to realize that it is not the existence of a naturally made fire but the scale of that event that matters.

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