Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide has been rising in the
atmosphere throughout time. Recently
though, the levels of carbon dioxide
have been increasing at a more alarming
rate. The cause of this is a direct
result of man’s burning of fossil fuels.
We know that every action we
make, as humans, will have some effect on the
environment around us and those
effects can be either good or bad. The rising
levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere may potentially inflict some negative
effects on our environment.
The termed used to describe the rise in CO2 in the
atmosphere is the
greenhouse effect. Major greenhouse gasses include carbon
dioxide, water
vapor, and methane. Greenhouse gasses collect in the atmosphere
and trap
solar radiation within the atmosphere. Therefore as the level of CO2
raises
the amount of collected solar radiation will increase as well. There is
a
direct correlation with the rise in CO2 in the atmosphere and the rise of
the
global temperature. When man burns fossil fuels such as coal or
petroleum, CO2
is released into the atmosphere. Another problem is "
large-scale
deforestation, especially in the tropics, is reducing the most
effective natural
CO2 removal process." (Craig 1996, p.9). The increase
in CO2 has the potential
to set off a chain of events that could have a
severe impact on our environment.
First the increased CO2 causes an
increase in the collection of solar radiation.
The rise in temperature
could cause the polar ice to melt causing sea levels to
rise. The increase in
temperature could also cause the cold water in the oceans
to expand, which
could have a great effect on shorelines. Other problems caused
by the
increase in temperature could be changes in the growing seasons of
plants, or
it could even change the patterns of rainfall. "The major fear of
global
warming is massive flooding which will devastate low lying areas of
the
earth." (Global Warming)