University of Guayaquil

Faculty of Administrative Sciences

English Folder

Research Work

Planet Earth

Teacher: Lcd. Ana Maria Maruri

Members
 Burbano Orellana Karen Targelia
 Villegas Muñiz Ana Gabriela
Course: 6/42

School term: 2018-2019

Earth is home to millions of species. Just one dominates it. Us. Our cleverness, our

inventiveness and our activities have modified almost every part of our planet. In fact, we are

having a profound impact on it. Indeed, our cleverness, our inventiveness and our activities are

now the drivers of every global problem we face. And every one of these problems is

accelerating as we continue to grow towards a global population of 10 billion. In fact, I believe

we can rightly call the situation we're in right now an emergency – an unprecedented planetary

emergency.

The effects of air pollution can include smoke, smells, and chemical emissions. Air pollution

may affect your health or damage your property, for example, smoke may affect paintwork. The

effects of the pollution may be delayed, and only become clear sometime after the pollution

occurs. Air pollution may be created either by an industrial chemical process, or a private

individual, for example, by lighting a bonfire, or burning waste plastic or car types.
Environmental issue

Water pollution is an environmental issue that affects many water bodies. This

photograph shows foam on the New River as it enters the United States from Mexico.

Environmental issues are harmful effects of human activity on the biophysical

environment. Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural

environment on individual, organizational or governmental levels, for the benefit of

both the environment and humans. Environmentalism, a social and environmental

movement, addresses environmental issues through advocacy, education and activism.[1]

The carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere has

already exceeded 400 parts per million (NOAA) (with total "long-term" GHG

exceeding 455 parts per million) (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report).

This level is considered a tipping point. "The amount of greenhouse gas in the

atmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially cause dangerous climate

change. We are already at risk of many areas of pollution...It's not next year or next

decade, it's now." The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

has stated "Climate change is not just a distant future threat. It is the main driver behind

rising humanitarian needs and we are seeing its impact. The number of people affected

and the damages inflicted by extreme weather has been unprecedented. Further, OCHA

has stated:

Climate disasters are on the rise. Around 70 percent of disasters are now climate related

– up from around 50 percent from two decades ago.

decade, 2.4 billion people were affected by climate related disasters, compared to 1.7

billion in the previous decade. The cost of responding to disasters has risen tenfold

between 1992 and 2008.

Destructive sudden heavy rains, intense tropical storms, repeated flooding and droughts

are likely to increase, as will the vulnerability of local communities in the absence of

strong concerted action.

Environment destruction caused by humans is a global problem, and this is a problem

that is ongoing every day. By year 2050, the global human population is expected to

grow by 2 billion people, thereby reaching a level of 9.6 billion people (Living Blue

Planet 24). The human effects on Earth can be seen in many different ways. A main one

is the temperature rise, and according to the report ”Our Changing Climate”, the global

warming that has been going on for the past 50 years is primarily due to human

activities (Walsh, et al. 20). Since 1895, the U.S. average temperature has increased

from 1.3 °F to 1.9 °F, with most of the increase taken place since around year 1970

(Walsh, et al. 20).

Types

Main articles: List of environmental issues and List of environmental disasters

Major current environmental issues may include climate change, pollution,

environmental degradation, and resource depletion etc. The conservation movement

natural areas, genetically modified foods and global warming.

Scientific grounding

The level of understanding of Earth has increased markebly in recent times through

science especially with the application of the scientific method. Environmental science

is now a multi-disciplinary academic study taught and researched at many universities.

This is used as a basis for addressing environmental issues.

Large amounts of data have been gathered and these are collated into reports, of which a

common type is the State of the Environment publications. A recent major report was

the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, with input from 1200 scientists and released in

2005, which showed the high level of impact that humans are having on ecosystem

services.

Organizations

Environmental issues are addressed at a regional, national or international level by

government organizations.

The largest international agency, set up in 1972, is the United Nations Environment

Programmed. The International Union for Conservation of Nature brings together 83

states, 108 government agencies, 766 Non-governmental organizations and 81

international organizations and about 10,000 experts and scientists from countries

around the world.[7] International non-governmental organizations include Greenpeace,

Friends of the Earth and World Wide Fund for Nature. Governments enact
environmental policy and enforce environmental law and this is done to differing

degrees.

The Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect increases the temperature of the Earth by trapping heat in our

atmosphere. This keeps the temperature of the Earth higher than it would be if direct

heating by the Sun was the only source of warming. When sunlight reaches the surface

of the Earth, some of it is absorbed which warms the ground and some bounces back to

space as heat. Greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere absorb and then redirect

some of this heat back towards the Earth.

The greenhouse effect is a major factor in keeping the Earth warm because it keeps

some of the planet's heat that would otherwise escape from the atmosphere out to space.

In fact, without the greenhouse effect the Earth's average global temperature would be

much colder and life on Earth as we know it would not be possible. The difference

between the Earth's actual average temperature 14° C (57.2° F) and the expected

effective temperature just with the Sun's radiation -19° C (-2.2° F) gives us the strength

of the greenhouse effect, which is 33° C.

critical role in regulating the overall temperature of the Earth. The greenhouse effect

was first discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1827, experimentally verified by John Tyndall

in 1861, and quantified by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.

How does the greenhouse effect work?

To understand exactly how the greenhouse effect works, imagine the following: a

warm, sunny day where the sun shines bright on the Earth. This sunlight (shortwave

radiation) passes into the planet's atmosphere and warms the Earth. Part of this energy is

absorbed by the Earth's surface, transformed into heat (longwave radiation) and radiated

back towards space. But as this heat goes up through the atmosphere, some of it is

trapped by the different greenhouse gases and doesn't escape into space. This in turn

warms up the Earth's atmosphere; just like the windows of a greenhouse that lets light in

and keeps the heat within to warm the plants growing inside.

Since some of the heat can't escape into space, it continues to add up which then

warms up the Earth. This is what we call the greenhouse effect. So the more greenhouse

gases you have in the atmosphere, the more heat stays on Earth.

If the amount of energy from the sun and the amount of greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere remain the same, then the average temperature on Earth will also be

constant. But this is no longer the case. The amount of greenhouse gases in our

atmosphere is the highest it has been in the last 3 million years. This is enhancing the

greenhouse effect and making the Earth warmer than normal, which is affecting the

planet's weather patterns, creating global warming and climate change.

An everyday example of the greenhouse effect

hours, you'll notice that the temperature inside the car is much warmer than the

temperature outside. This is because the windows of the car allow the sunlight to enter.

This light, once inside, is then partially converted into heat. However, these same

windows do not allow the heat inside the car to pass through as easily as light, so some

of this heat accumulates. The net effect is that more heat remains in than can come out,

increasing the temperature inside the car.

What causes the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is caused by the interaction of the sun's energy with

greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases

in the Earth's atmosphere. The ability of these gases to trap heat is what causes the

greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse gases are made of three or more atoms. This molecular structure makes

it possible for these gases to trap heat in the atmosphere and then re-emit it towards the

surface which further warms the Earth. This continuous cycle of trapping heat leads to

an overall increase in global temperatures. This process, which is very similar to the

way a greenhouse works, is why the gases that can produce this effect are collectively

known as greenhouse gases.

The principal forcing gases of the greenhouse effect are:

 Carbon dioxide (CO2)

 Methane (CH4)

 Nitrous oxide (N2O)

 Fluorinated gases
 The main feedback gas of the greenhouse effect is:

 Water vapor

Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and the fluorinated gases are all well-mixed

gases in the atmosphere that do not react to changes in temperature and air pressure, so

the levels of these gases are not affected by condensation. Water vapor on the other

hand, is a highly active component of the climate system that responds rapidly to

changes in conditions by either condensing into rain or snow, or evaporating to return to

the atmosphere. Thus the impact of the greenhouse effect is primarily circulated through

water vapor, and it acts as a fast feedback.

Carbon dioxide and the other non-condensing greenhouse gases are the key gases

within the Earth's atmosphere that sustain the greenhouse effect and control its strength.

Water vapor is a fast-acting feedback but its atmospheric concentration is controlled by

the radiative forcing supplied by the non-condensing greenhouse gases.

In fact, the greenhouse effect would collapse were it not for the presence of carbon

dioxide and the other non-condensing greenhouse gases. Together the feedback by the

condensing and the forcing by the non-condensing gases within the atmosphere both

play an important role in the greenhouse effect.

Solution to the greenhouse effects

 Energy consumption: One of the best ways to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions is to limit energy consumption. Using energy in many of its forms

comes with the negative externality of releasing greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere.
 Limit waste: Wasteful and needless consumption contributes greatly to the

release of greenhouse gases. Every physical product that you use (magazines,

boxes, food products, toys) requires energy to produce and for disposal.

 Plant trees: Another way to reduce the greenhouse effect is to plant trees and

other plants. Another advantage of planting trees is that they can result in

energy savings. A large tree which provides shade to a home during hot

summer months can result in less need for air conditioning, an amenity that

requires a relatively large amount of electricity.