Energy Conservation

Introduction

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defined Global warming as the past and continuous rise in the earth 's atmospheric temperatures (where the earth in this case encompasses both oceanic and land surfaces . This increase in temperature has been caused by natural and unnatural activities . The former consist of volcanic activity and varied solar heat while the latter consist of man made activities sometimes called anthropogenic activities like industrial and automobile emissions . These emissions lead to increased accumulation of green houses in the atmosphere . They increase the green house effect

br and cause global warming . It has been estimated that the earth 's temperature has risen by 0 .74 degrees Celsius over the past century (IPCC , 2001

A detailed of global warming

It is imperative to understand the main issues behind the problem and the intensity of the problem . Global warming is caused by the green house effect . A wide range of gaseous molecules such as nitrogen , oxygen and other trace gases (carbon dioxide , methane ozone and others ) cover the earth . The concentration of these gases is in decreasing . The latter gases usually absorb heat radiated by the sun . After the absorption process is complete , these gases then radiate the heat back to the earth surface and to lower parts of the atmosphere . The absorptions and radiations of heat from the atmospheric gases cause an increase in overall earth temperatures . This is known as the green house effect whose overall result is to increase global temperatures

It should be noted that the earth has always had the green house effect . This `warming ' of the earth is necessary to make it conducive for life . However , when the green house effect increases rapidly with time , then the effects can be detrimental

The problem of global warming is real and potentially life threatening to some species . Studies conducted over the last thirty years show that there is a consistent rise in global temperatures . Scientists have ascertained this fact by measuring temperatures in different weather stations of the world and then finding the global average . The results indicate that the earth 's temperature has risen by half a degree Celsius over the last thirty years

Biological life is slowly responding to these temperature increases . For instance , it has been found that some plants such as those ones in the Alps are becoming less distinct in warmer altitudes and can now be found in higher altitudes . This is because the plants grow well in cold climates but this is no longer possible in some of the altitudes that harbored the plants in the past (Gilbert , 2002

Non-living and living factors that contribute to and are affected by global warming

Global warming can cause a significant sea level increase . This has occurred because of two major factors . First , the increased temperatures brought about by global warming may melt ice caps and create excess water . The other factor is seawater expansion . There are numerous repercussions of rising sea levels . First of all , many of the...