Global Warming Slide Show Project Justin Reed Grade 10 Applied Science 2012

Global Warming Vs Climate Change

Greenhouse Gases Many greenhouse gases (GHG) occur naturally including water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NOx), and ozone (O3). Basically, GHGs trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. GHGs are vital to life on Earth (i.e., temperature would be 30OC colder without the natural Greenhouse Effect). If too much GHGs is added to the atmosphere, more heat gets trapped and the Earth becomes too warm. This is Global Warming Many human activities add to the natural effects of the gases, and many people believe human emissions of the GHGs are the main cause of Global Warming

Climate Change Climate Change is a natural and reoccurring process in weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. Climate Change may be limited to a specific region or may occur across the whole Earth. It may be a change in average weather patterns or a distribution of more or less extreme weather events across the Earth.

Is Global Warming a Myth?

Carbon Levels CO2 is the chief GHG that results from human activities and causes global warming and climate change. Carbon concentrations in the atmosphere are rising fast from decade to decade mainly due to human activities. The upper safety limit for Atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts per million (ppm). Atmospheric CO2 levels have stayed higher than 350 ppm since early 1988.

Rising Temperatures Since agriculture began, the earth's climate has been remarkably stable. Now the earth's temperature is rising. This rise in heat comes from heat trapping gasses principally CO2 in the atmosphere. The rise mainly comes from two sources: (1) burning of fossil fuels and (2) deforestation. Each year, more than 6 billion tons of carbon are released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. The estimates on deforestation are around 1.5 billion tons of carbon are released. The outcome has been rising temperatures on Earth (see graphs on the next page)

Charts and Stats