TOPIC: ANY

Firms Combating Climate Change

Firms Combating Climate Change

Introduction

Global Warming is described as the progressive gradual rise of the earth's surface temperature thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns. The greenhouse effect is the absorption of energy radiated from the Earth's surface by carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere, causing the atmosphere to become warmer. The greenhouse effect is what is causing the temperature on the Earth to rise, and creating many problems that will begin to occur in the coming decades. Greenhouse effect is the effect produced as greenhouse gases allow incoming solar radiation to pass through the Earth's atmosphere, but prevent part of the outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere from escaping into outer space. This process occurs naturally and has kept the Earth's temperature about 59 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it would otherwise be. Current life on Earth could not be sustained without the natural greenhouse effect. The natural gases in the greenhouse effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), as well as other trace gases. Life could not exist if there was no natural greenhouse effect (Rubba, Petter , James , & Strong, 2001, 56-280).

Causes of Global Warming

The most recent scientific data confirms that the earth's climate is rapidly changing. In the beginning, all climate changes occurred naturally, however, the Industrial Revolution brought about a massive change in the world's atmosphere. The world began altering the climate and environment through agricultural and industrial practices. The cause is a thickening layer of carbon dioxide pollution, mostly from power plants and automobiles that traps heat in the atmosphere (Serreze et. al. 2000, 159-207).

Global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the course of the last century, and will likely rise even more rapidly in coming decades. There is agreement today that Global warming is a systematic issue driven by natural and human-influenced landscape and gas emission changes that can occur at the same time. Natural variations in temperature could be caused by variations in the earth's orbit, or variations in the sun's output, or several other factors including sulfur dioxide emitted by volcanoes. The precise contributions of these natural causes of temperature variations are unknown and unpredictable at the present.

Sunspots are a significant factor. Human caused warming is by increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide. The science of the greenhouse effect is not in doubt - the planet Venus is affected by a greenhouse effect. What is in doubt is the precise relationship between the concentration of greenhouse gasses and temperature rise (Shepherd, 2001, 862-864).

Humans have also emitted sulfur dioxide, which has a cooling effect and has tended to mask the warming effect of rising carbon dioxide for much of the last 100 years until the mid-1970's, when clean air acts became operative. This planet is losing its forests, 34 million acres each year through burning and cutting. The destruction of tropical forests alone is throwing hundreds of ...