Carbon emissions are having an effect on society by causing Global Warming. Global warming is not one precise thing causing problems for our planet; it is a culmination of many factors that when present will create damage. Many people are clueless about what they can do to help fight the growing concern to our planet, and will opt to do nothing for lack of education of the problem.
Solar rays enter and exit our atmosphere every day. These rays work to heat up our planet, if they are not present the Earth would be a floating block of ice. This process is called the Greenhouse Effect. Almost everything on Earth contains carbon. This element is used in many different ways. At the molecular level, this element is very valuable.
Carbon in nature is found in diamonds. The entire gem is a cube structure of only carbon atoms. If you shift the cube to a slant position, you have graphite. Carbon is also ingested every day with consumption of different products like; caffeine, nicotine, aspirin and sugar. Humans contain carbon in our DNA and it is a component of ATP, which is our major energy source. Non-living things contain carbon also.
A typical t-shirt lets off eight times its weight in carbon emissions. Food, fuel and commercial goods also release carbon gases into the atmosphere. This is good for plants and trees. Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by plants and trees for the process of photosynthesis. As a by-product, the plants and trees release oxygen into the air.
Emissions from different sources are causing an increase in the rate of carbon entering our atmosphere. The burning of our natural resources is creating a high level of emissions. When deforestation (cutting down trees) occurs, there are not as many trees and plants to handle the capacity of increased emissions. The demand for these resources are so high, the continued destruction will not slow down any time soon.
Factories release carbon emissions daily into the atmosphere, their emissions cause a cloud of black soot to settle over the planet. One of the worst places it is landing is on polar ice caps. These ice caps help to reflect solar rays from the Greenhouse Effect back into space. When carbon soot lands on the surfaces of these caps, it causes the rays to be absorbed and create melting.
The automobile industry over time has contributed to the increase in emissions in the form of carbon monoxide. Catalytic converters may help slow the process, but it doesn’t eliminate it completely. The rise in populations all over the world also contributes to emissions. We exhale carbon dioxide every few seconds. When you multiply that by the number of human beings, the number is astronomical.
These emissions rise up and create problems for the atmosphere. Solar rays come in, but fewer are being released back into space. This is heating the planet steadily and causing weather to react in violent patterns. Warm air coming down to the surface of the ocean is picked up and funneled. The result is a hurricane, tsunami or tornado. If you have not noticed the increase in frequency and destruction of storms that are occurring, now would be a good time to start watching the news. Polar ice caps melting are redefining our shores and causing desalinization of the oceans. This causes problems with the currents and will result in storm cells. Storms are not the only problems we need to worry about.
Polar ice caps have a high abundance of salt under them. Salt is denser and will flow out as the water melts into ice. Krill eat on the salt below the ice caps, and if the salt is not available from melting, whales will lose their food source of krill. One day our great grandchildren may only be able to learn about whales from a book. Another problem arising is the bleaching of coral reefs. Microorganisms called zoozanthelle provide food, through photosynthesis, to the inhabitants of coral reefs. The deeper the coral reefs become from melting ice caps, the less able zoozanthelle are to do photosynthesis. The bleaching is a result of dead organisms. Many species depend on coral reef organisms for their food supply; in turn they will start to die off also.
If society would work as a whole to solve the problems of abusing our natural resources, we can make a difference toward the extinction of our plants flora and fauna. We are already seeing the effects and to wait much longer may cause permanent damage that we will never recover from.
