Global Warming

Greenhouse Effect

In natural sunlight (shortwave radiation) that touches the surface of the earth will be transformed into heat and warms the earth. Some of this heat will be reflected back by the earth's surface into outer space as long-wave infrared radiation.

Most heat reflected sunlight will be absorbed by gases in the atmosphere that surrounds the earth (called greenhouse gases such as : water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane ) so that the rays of heat trapped in the earth's atmosphere. This event is known as the Greenhouse Effect (GHE) because of the events at the greenhouse, where the incoming heat will be trapped in it, unable to penetrate beyond the glass, so it can heat the entire greenhouse.

This natural event causes the earth became warm and livable human, because if there is no Greenhouse Effect the Earth's surface temperature would be 33 degrees Celcius cooler.

All life on Earth depends on the greenhouse effect, because without it, the planet would be so cold that ice will cover the entire surface of the Earth.

Global Warming

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) in the atmosphere resulting from human activities result mainly associated with the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal and stone) for purposes such as power generation, motor vehicles, factories, cooking. Besides GHG also produced from the burning of forests and agricultural activities. These activities generate carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which led to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The changing composition of Greenhouse gas  in the atmosphere, namely the increasing global greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human activity cause the sun's heat is reflected back into space by the Earth's surface, mostly trapped in the earth due to hampered by Greenhouse gas  earlier. Increasing the amount of emissions (exhaust) Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere ultimately lead to increased average temperature of the earth's surface, which was then known as Global Warming.

Symptoms of Global Warming

ü  Massive forest fires

Not only in Indonesia , a number of forests in the United States also were burned and exhausted. In recent decades , more wildfires devastated areas within a longer too . Scientists associate this with the rampant fire that increasingly hot temperatures and snow melt faster . Spring comes early so the snow melts early too . Forest area is drier than usual and more flammable .

ü  Easily damaged archaeological sites

Due to the hostile nature , a number of temples , historical sites , temples and other artifacts damaged faster than some time ago . floods , extreme temperatures and sea tides caused it all .

ü  Mountain altitude decreases

Without realizing it many people , shrinking the Alps altitude . This is due to the melting of ice at its peak . For hundreds of years , the weight of the ice has pushed the Earth's surface due to the pressure . When the ice melts , the weight is lifted and slowly lifted back surface .

ü  Satellites move faster

Emissions of carbon dioxide to make the planet more quickly heat , impact and even into space . Air in the outside of atmosphere is very thin, but with the sheer number of carbon dioxide increases, the molecules in the upper atmosphere fused more slowly and tend to radiate energy , and cools the surrounding air . The more carbon dioxide up there , the atmosphere creates more impetus , and the satellites move faster .

ü  Only the Strongest Survive

Due to increasingly erratic season , only the fittest creatures survive . For example , flowering plants faster this year , the number of animal migration occurs sooner .

ü  Massive melting

Not only the temperature of planet that triggers glacier melting, but also all the layers of soil that had been frozen . This melting triggers basic land contract erratically causing holes and damage structures such as railway lines , roads , and houses .

ü  Peculiarity in the Polar Regions

The loss of 125 lakes in the North Pole decades ago led to the idea that global warming is happening " scene " in the area around the source of water that kutub.Riset lost the possibility of melting of the frozen section shows the base of the earth .

ü  The flowering plants in the Arctic

When melting Arctic trigger problems for plants and animals in the lower plains , also created a similar situation with sunlight immersed in Arctic biota . Plants there are first trapped in the ice is no longer and began to grow .

ü  Habitat Living Things Move to Higher Plain

Since the early decades of the 1900s , humans had to climb higher in order to find a squirrel , a beaver or rat forest . Scientists found that these animals have been moved to higher ground as a result of global warming . The displacement of habitat also threatens the habitat of polar bears , because they live where ice is melting .

ü  Improved Allergy Cases

Frequent attacks of sneezing and itching in the spring is caused by global warming . The last few decades allergies and asthma cases among Americans experienced an increase . Scientists study showed that high levels of carbon dioxide and temperatures later this trigger. These conditions also make the plants bloom earlier and produce more pollen .

Impact of Global Warming

Global warming is increasing the average temperature of the atmosphere, ocean and land surface caused by human activity, especially the activity of burning fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, and natural gas), which releases carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases known as greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is increasingly filled with greenhouse gases and it is increasingly becoming insulators withstand more heat reflected from the Earth's sun. The impact of warming will affect global terms:

1) Weather

In the mountains in temperate regions, snow covered sections will shrink and will melt faster. Growing seasons will be longer in some areas. Temperatures in winter and at night will tend to increase.

2) Sea levels

As the atmosphere warms, the surface layer of the oceans will warm, so the volume will be enlarged and raise sea levels. Warming will also melt a lot of ice at the poles, especially around Greenland, which will raise the volume of water in the ocean.

3) Agriculture

One might assume that a warmer Earth will produce more food than ever, but it is actually not the same in some places. Southern parts of Canada, for example, may benefit from higher rainfall and growing season length.

4) Animals and plants

Animals and plants into living creatures that are difficult to avoid the effects of global warming because most of the land is controlled by humans. In global warming, animals tend to migrate toward the poles and up the mountains. Plants will change the direction of growth, seeking new areas as old habitats become too warm.

5) Human health

In warmer world, scientists predict that more and more people are affected by the disease or die from heat stress. Outbreaks of diseases commonly found in tropical areas, such as diseases caused by mosquitoes and other disease-carrying animals, will be more widespread because they can move to areas that were previously too cold for them.

How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas 

There are two main approaches to slow the increasing greenhouse gases.

Ø   First: Prevent carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by storing the gas or its carbon component somewhere else. This method is called carbon sequestration (removing carbon).

The easiest way to remove carbon dioxide in the air is to maintain trees and plant more trees. Trees, especially young and fast growing, so much to absorb carbon dioxide, break through photosynthesis and store the carbon in wood. Around the world, the rate of forest encroachment has reached alarming levels. In many areas, the plants that grow back a little once because the soil loses its fertility when it is converted to other uses, such as agriculture or residential development. Steps to overcome this is to reforestation role in reducing the increasing greenhouse gases.

Carbon dioxide can also be removed directly. How to inject (injecting) the gas into oil wells to bring oil to the surface. Injection can also be done to isolate the gas underground as in oil wells, coal seams or aquifers. This has been done in one Norowegia offshore drilling rigs, in which carbon dioxide is brought to the surface with natural gas captured and injected back into the aquifer so it can not return to the surface.

Ø  Second: Reducing greenhouse gas production.

One source contributor of carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal). The use of fossil fuels began to increase rapidly since the industrial revolution in the 18th century. At that time, coal became the dominant energy source for later replaced by oil in the mid-19th century. In the 20th century, gas started to be used as an energy source. Change of trend in the use of fossil fuels is actually indirectly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air, because the gas release less carbon dioxide than oil and much less than coal. Nevertheless, the use of renewable energy and nuclear energy further reduce the release of carbon dioxide into the air.