GLOBAL WARMING (CLIMATE CHANGE)

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This is one topic I teach my students in Chemistry Class, it's a very important one, which everyone should know about it. So am using this Article to help spread this information to people so we can fight it together. I would explain the meaning, causes, which should help us to understand how we can reduce or stop it.

WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING
As the word says Global it involves the whole world, and warming deals with temperature.
Global Warming is the rise in temperature of the earth's surface.
A constant rise has being noticed since the 18th Century. Scientist have concluded that human activities is the major reason for Global Warming.

CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING

Human activities affects Greenhouse gases which in turn leads to Global Warming.
In the past the SUN was found to have caused the little *Ice Age between 1650 and 1850.which was due to the decrease in solar activity of the sun (radiation to earth), since then only Human activities have being found responsible for climatic changes.
Now let's look into what Greenhouse Gas means and then the Human activities to contributes directly to GLOBAL WARMING

GREENHOUSE GASES

Greenhouse gases are gases in which naturally occur in our atmosphere. Quite a few number of them contributes to Greenhouse Effect.
What is Greenhouse effect?
This is a process where Greenhouse gases absorbs Infrared Radiation (this is the energy reflected by the Earth's Surface from the Sun’s Radiation). These Greenhouse Gases act like a Blanket making the earth warm in the absence of Solar Energy mostly at nights. This is one unique reason why Earth is suitable for Human to live in, unlike other planets.

List of Greenhouse gases

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1 . OZone (O3)
This is a gas found in the Earth's Stratosphere ,which absorbs Ultraviolet Radiation from the Sun.
It is an inorganic molecule with formula (O3). It is formed when the Sun ray split Oxygen Molecules into Atoms, and the Atoms thereby react with atmospheric oxygen to form a three Oxygen Molecule.
It is an important Gas which helps protect the Earth from dangerous Ultraviolet Rays.

2 . Water Vapour
This is the most abundant Greenhouse gas. The level of water vapour is a function of temperature, human activities have just a little effect on the level of atmospheric water vapour.

3 . Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
This is the major Greenhouse Gas contributing to Global Warming.
Human Activities have being known to increase its concentration which in turn have a negative effect on climate Change. Like burning of fossil fuel ,burning of refuses and changes in land use.

4 . METHANE (CH4)
This is an hydrocarbon produced naturally and through Human Activities, it's atmospheric composition has increased due to Human Activities through the years. Natural gas and petroleum refineries have being the highest emitters of Methane, it is also being emitted by the digestive process of Ruminant Animals.

5 . Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
This is produced by Human Agricultural practices and natural biological process.
Fuel burning releases Nitrous Oxide into the Atmosphere. It's concentration in the atmosphere has risen since the start of industrial age.

6 . CHLOROFLUOROCARBON
This is a form of hydrocarbon which is used as coolants, foaming agent, fire extinguisher, solvents.
It breaks down OZone which in turn reduces the concentration of OZone.

HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT AFFECTS / CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL WARMING

1 . BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS

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The release of carbon dioxide oxide from combustion engine of vehicles, burning of refuse, combustion engine of generator set. All these increase the level of Carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere. And the higher the level of Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere the higher the overall temperature of the earth, which can cause loss of Polar regions (Arctic Region & Antarctic Region) to break, leading to flooding, high water levels and so on.

2 . DEFORESTATION

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Deforestation is the felling of trees in a land area. The effects of deforestation is in two ways.
The Trees being cut down, tend to release their stored carbon into the atmosphere, which in turn increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
These plants tend to be a major player in Oxygen cycle through photosynthesis, whereby plants consume carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce their food and Oxygen (O2). So the more plants we have, the more CO2 being used up and vice versa. The less plant we have the more (CO2) we have in the atmosphere, which brings more heat on earth.

3 . USE OF CHLOROFLUOROCARBON (CFC) DEVICES

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CFC are dangerous forms of hydrocarbon which are used in refrigerants ,Aircraft Halon (a coolant) and have a lifetime of 20-100 years.
They are found in old refrigerators and can leak into the atmosphere when not properly disposed off.
CFC deflects the OZone (O3) layer in the atmosphere, making dangerous UV lights from the sun penetrate Earth's Atmosphere, which in turn causes Skin cancer, Sunburn, and cataracts.

4 . INDUSTRIAL LIVESTOCK

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Industrial livestock agricultural practices tend to also increase Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Cattle produce Methane (CH4) which is 20 times more potent than Carbon dioxide (CO2).

5 . INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS

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Some manufacturing Companies tend to burn fossil fuels and release quite a large quantity of pollutants into the atmosphere, which affects the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Thank you for reading, hope it was very informative and you know more about Global Warming today?.

Spread this information with everyone around you. ♨️