Hsu, Wensha: Global Warming & Your Carbon Footprint
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Wensha Hsu
Chemistry 106
12/01/2017
Global Warming and Carbon Footprint
As the Industrial Revolution brought the manufacturing processes from hand production methods to machines processes, an unprecedented level of air pollution and global warming had occurred in a rapid rate. Global warming is a gradual increase in average global temperatures of the earth’s atmosphere which is generally attributed to the greenhouse effect primarily caused by
increased levels of greenhouse gases. And when energy from the sun heats the earth’s surface, some of the atmospheric gases trap some of the outgoing radiates energy, keeping heat to stay in the earth, and these gases are known as greenhouse gases. The five most important greenhouse gases are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Many of these greenhouse gases are emitted naturally, however, if the greenhouse effects become stronger and more heat energy are trapped than we actually needed, the temperature of the Earth would keep increasing. And that’s the main reason of the global warming.
Carbon dioxide, although it’s not the most abundant greenhouse gas, it has been focused on as the leading global warming concern because it stays in the atmosphere longer than any other greenhouse gases. After CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere, about 40% will stay in the atmosphere for a hundred years and about 20% will remain for a thousand years. According to Charles Keeling, NOAA scientists, decades of carefully observed measurements of CO2 and measurements of carbon isotopes have shown a great amount of unequivocal scientific evidence that the CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing rapidly. Since the industrial revolution, the atmospheric CO2 levels have increased about 40% and they are higher than any time in the past 800,000 years. We have been burning a great amount of fossil fuels and clearing forested resources for a more convenient life, but these activities convert organic carbon atom into CO2 which has fasten the speed of global warming.
People might not be aware of how much carbon they emit everyday, but if we actually calculate the carbon footprint for a household, you would realize that there are actually a lot of things we could improve on. For instance, there are some possible alternative energy resources that can replace fossil fuels, such as solar, wind, geothermal, water, and nuclear energy. And perhaps solar energy is the most crucial among them because it is becoming more convenient and efficient with technological advancements. People could’ve bought a hybrid vehicle instead of a gasoline fuel vehicle to reduce the emission of carbon. We can all contribute some work to mitigate global warming by reducing the emission of carbon dioxide.