Increase In Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions example essay topic

Greenhouse gases are important in maintaining Earths habitable climate. These greenhouse gases must fall within a narrow range. Too much of any of the greenhouse gases can induce climatic changes, in particular, global warming. Of the greatest concern are the anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases because they are steadily increasing in concentration in the atmosphere, and therefore increasing the natural ability of the greenhouse effect.

As the debate continues on whether or not global warming is occurring over a long time scale, humans continue to increase greenhouse gas emissions. This increase in heat-trapping gases could invariably cause an increase in global temperatures, from a simplistic point of view. The world is not simple though, and with its complex interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere, climate change may be difficult to predict with accuracy. Humans must look at all the Earths interactions in a holistic view to determine what actions must be done to decrease and eliminate further degradation to the environment.

Without a holistic viewpoint, humans will not be able to change their patterns of destruction and any individual environmental problem will not be solved, as everything on Earth is complexly related. Is global warming actually occurring? On a short-term time scale, the observations clearly show an increase in the average global temperature. The increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is the most obvious reason for this increase in temperature. The major difficulties in dealing with the current generation of international and global environmental problems are, first, scientific uncertainty about their effects and second, the need for agreements among governments to deal with them. Economists refer to this latter difficulty as the free-rider problem, since costly controls are necessary to achieve improvements, and countries that fail to institute controls will receive some of the benefits resulting from the efforts of others (Herzog, 1999).

Scientific uncertainty is a difficult issue because uncertainty means that it is always possible to argue that better policies can be developed by waiting until a broader scientific consensus emerges. Unfortunately, there are costs as well as benefits associated with waiting, and sometimes these costs and benefits cannot be measured with enough accuracy to be useful. The Kyoto agreement has the potential to affect every sector of society because most anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO 2, come from energy production and use. It will be necessary to have full cooperation of all countries, both developed and developing, to fulfill the goals set out at the Kyoto Convention. Global warming will be a great concern for future generations, but it is time to take action now to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and to slow the human-induced global warming process.

The longer the worlds nations wait to respond, the more costly the response will be (Herzog, 1999). It would appear that Canada is an ideal place live, yet in order to succeed and live in this fast past environment, a few unknowingly sacrifices have been made. Canada is one of the main contributors of emission and other deadly gases, which leads to global climate change and therefore should take a more aggressive approach in finding solutions. By not concentrating on finding ways to reduce emission gases, the ozone layer continues to deplete, and therefore causes the climate to change worldwide. Nevertheless it is also important to understand how exactly climate can change. Climate change, or global warming, as it is other wise known as, is the result of when the levels of greenhouse gases rise and less infrared light, or heat, escapes the earths atmosphere.

The earths atmosphere is made up of seventy-eight percent of nitrogen and twenty-one percent of oxygen. That means that one percent of gas that is left comes from water vapor, carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), nitrous oxide, and methane, which are other wise known as trace gases. Human activity can also impact these trace gases and therefore can alter the climate in the long run. By looking at the infinite carbon dioxide cycle, it is easy to see how carbon dioxide is absorbed in and out of the atmosphere. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. They do this to sustain life, while getting rid of a waste product.

Humans contribute to the amount of carbon dioxide by using transportation, residential and commercial buildings, industrial factories, and by the land clearing of trees.