Thursday, February 14, 2008

Global Warming: Bunch of Gas or is the Heat On?

By Brandon :D

What is Global Warming? Is it called global warming or global climate change? Will the earth spontaneously combust on a certain day? Do we have ANYTHING to do with it? What are we going to do if the drastic happens, go to Mars? The Moon? Yes, there are plenty of questions, fewer answers, and any of the above may happen, although some are not very likely.
First are people... the ignorant, on both sides. On one far side, there are the people who believe that global warming is a total myth; that we have nothing to do with it, and that it is all an idea of the government to make more ideas to get more votes. They basically say, "Yep, it's heating up, but it's not us. Plus, Colorado and places around New York just got bunches of that there snow stuff, how could the earth be heating up drastically if there's snow? The Earth has been heating up for millions of years. Prove that it is us and then we'll talk. It's all Gore's fault. Hey, why am I burning? Wait, what? I can't get water 'cuz we're going through a drought? Yep I bet Gore took all of it to put in his mansion. I'm going to my home so that I can run my microwave with nothing in it and run my cooler on 65 when no one's home. "
The other side, also very ignorant, believe that the whole world is going to burn to the ground or freeze into a giant icecube. They believe that the whole thing is caused by us and that we are the only cause of it. The only way that we can solve it is by throwing all of our cars into the Grand Canyon, and then never use electricity or burn a fire. Their side of the conversation : "Man, we totally need to just throw our cars away, and just live free, man. Without cars, the man can't bring us down! I love that Gore dude, he is, like, a true hero. Too bad for his movie and his presentation, he used so much energy. Well, I'm going to go to my anti-energy home and eat a granola bar that was made without electricity of any kind."
Yes, I exaggerated on both and stereotyped, but some people are that way, they either care too little or too much. Yes, some of these things could happen and some of these things would help, but why can't we just reach a happy medium? Some people do, and get pellet burning stoves instead of hot water heaters, (why heat water if it is already hot? Is that redundant or do I repeat myself?) use a Wattson/Kyoto(see older blog), or unplug electric items they don't use during the day when they're gone.
Secondly, what global warming is and how it's caused... I could jabber on
about this and the specifics, but there is a simple way to put it. (maybe!) One possible, and probably the most heard cause is "the greenhouse effect." The greenhouse effect is when CO2(Carbon Dioxide) is put into the air, it makes a blanket around the earth. This blanket lets heat in, but not out, just like the glass is in a greenhouse, hence the name the greenhouse effect. The diagram above shows what the greenhouse effect is quite nicely. As the so-called "blanket" gets bigger because of more greenhouse gas emissions, the less infared radiation is let out of the atmosphere, causing more heat and possibly global warming! CO2 does occur naturally, but do we, humans, have anything to do with this with our billions of cars and other non-environmental activities/items.
The second theory is that our sun is heating up enough to heat up the earth. The sun is going through it's growing cycle, it is only a yellow dwarf, but is it really enough to heat up the earth this much. What may be happening is that the greenhouse effect is happening and increasing, and the sun is heating up, which some may call a "double whammy!"There are some more "realistic theories" online, as well as some humorous ones. Check it out if you are interested, but the two above are the main ones.
Finally and definitely not least, how do we solve this problem, or at least contribute to the solution. Well, this is what this very blog is about. This blog is about making a difference, and if we are contributing(which we probably are) how to save the world. Yes, it sounds cheesy, but it's the truth. So, just read the blog, and maybe you'll learn something new. The main point of this post is to say that global warming is a serious issue, and needs to be considered as such.

1 comment:

Students Studying Energy Sources said...

by Vinny

great post. But one thing I have noticed and thought about, is this one video I saw on tv. It was about the earth's magnetic field getting weaker, and letting in more UV rays. What I am starting to think though, is the magnetic field letting in more heat, hence the world is heating up? Something to think about.