There is a serious debate on global warming in academic and media circles. The internet and media are my main sources of information on this issue. In addition, I have witnessed infrequent flooding and droughts which I associate with global warming. I am concerned because this phenomenon poses a lot of danger to current and future generations of humanity as well as flora and fauna.
The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is worrisome because it contributes immensely to the heating up of the earth’s surface. The concomitant rise in temperature leads to melting of polar ice and jeopardizing of coastal settlements. Other negative impacts include floods, droughts, diseases and extinction of some plant and animal species. However, atmospheric green house effect is also beneficial because these gases keep the earth warm, without which the planet would be very cold and uninhabitable (University of Arizona).
Atmospheric carbon dioxide has been increasing gradually. Between 0 AD the mid 1750s, the concentration was constant at 280ppm. At the onset of the Industrial Revolution, it started to rise rapidly and reached almost 350ppm by the year 2000. Naturally, when animals inhale oxygen, they release carbon dioxide. Trees remove this gas from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Consequently, deforestation curtails this process. Moreover, combustion is an anthropogenic process that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (University of Arizona).
The impacts of human and natural activities on the carbon cycle differ. Natural processes of emitting or absorbing the gas are fairly balanced. For example, 120 and 90 units of this gas are released by the land and oceans respectively into the atmosphere and a similar amount is absorbed back respectively. However, human activities release more carbon dioxide than they can absorb back thus causing global warming (University of Arizona).
Works Cited
Change. Atmo.arizona.edu. n.d. Web. 4. Feb. 2014.
