Global Warming Report
By Krishna Narayanan
What is Global Warming?
Global Warming is the temperature rising high. Sometimes, people don’t understand why global warming might be a problem - after all, in many areas it will create a warmer and more pleasant climate. But experts predict the world will drastically change as we know it. Various studies show that: the 20th century’s ten warmest years all happened after 1985. Of these 1998 was the warmest 2001 the second.
How Global Warming Works/The Greenhouse Gases
The greenhouse gases are H₂O, CH₄, CO₂ and NO₂. That’s water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. These gases make the temp just right for life. The greenhouse gases let heat in from the sun that heats Earth and then Earth gives out heat but the greenhouse gases trap the Earth’s heat. Without the greenhouse gases the temp would be around-18˚C, which is too cold for life. Natural greenhouse gases make it a comfortable 15.5˚C. But by human activities, the greenhouse effect is enhanced.
CFC’s
CFC’s are also part of the greenhouse gases because they trap heat too. We need to reduce the amount of CFC’s we pump into the air because it is one of the gases responsible for global warming. There are 3 types of CFC’s: HCFC’s (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons) and HFC’s (hydrofluorocarbons).
Temperature is Rising Fast
Over the next century, Earth’s average surface temp could rise faster than at any time in the last 10000 years. Scientists expect an increase of between 0.6 and 2.5 degrees in the next 50 years and between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees in the next century.
The Worst Global Warming
The maximum warming will probably be in the Arctic, in winter. Arctic sea ice has already thinned by 40% since the 1970s; it’s possible that Greenland’s land ice may even disappear. Also, polar bears are getting endangered because there is not much ice pads to rest on. Antarctica is the opposite. If Antarctic ice melts, there is land under the ice.
Radioactive Waste
Radioactive waste is a waste product containing radioactive material. It is usually the product of a nuclear process such as nuclear fission, though industries not directly connected to the nuclear power industry may also produce radioactive waste. The majority of radioactive waste is "low-level waste", meaning it has low levels of radioactivity per mass or volume.
Radioactivity diminishes over time, so in principle the waste needs to be isolated for a period of time until it no longer poses a hazard. This can mean hours to years for some common medical or industrial radioactive wastes, or thousands of years for high-level wastes.
The Rain Forests and Forests
Every minute in the world the size of a rugby field of rain forest is cut down and around 200000 acres of rain forest are destroyed every day. Trees act like natural sponges, soaking up CO₂ from the air. This helps prevent global warming. Areas such as forests store lots of carbon, called carbon sinks.
CO₂ and CH₄ (methane) Levels are Rising
Since the end of the 18th century, the amount of CO₂ in the Earth’s atmosphere has increased from about 280 parts of carbon dioxide per million parts of air to about 370 parts per million. It’s rising at a rate of 1.2 parts per million each year. CH₄ levels have risen about 30% around the 1950s. CH₄ levels have more than doubled to 1.75 parts per million.
Water Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, groundwater).
Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging either to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.
Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.
