Villena, Justin: Global Warming & Your Carbon Footprint

Justin Villena

Chemistry 106

12/1/17

Group M4

ARC Questions

There are Greenhouse Gases that are in the Earth’s atmosphere that create the Greenhouse effect and it absorbs infrared radiation. The Greenhouse Effect occurs when there are short-wave radiation rays hit the Earth’s surface then the energy is radiated back to the Earth’s atmosphere. There are many different Greenhouse Gases that are in the Earth’s atmosphere. The most notable ones are Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Sulfur Hexafluoride. Small concentrations can increase into large concentrations which can cause the Greenhouse Gases to enlarge enormously.

 The reason that Carbon is so focused on Global Warming is because Carbon Dioxide lasts way more longer than any other Greenhouse Gas. The activities we do in our daily life such as driving or working create more CO2 which goes into the Earth’s Atmosphere. There is about four hundred parts per million in the atmosphere this coming year. We discover that Carbon Dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere by seeing many cars have emission problems around us. Over 200 years ago there has been many advancements in technology. With the making of cars it produces greenhouse gases in the atmosphere creating more CO2 in the air. When it comes to over 1,000 years ago, it pretty much has gotten worse. Polar Ice Caps start to melt and that causes more water and floods to occur. Humans are one of the main causes with CO2 going into the atmosphere because of our cars and factories people work at; by doing that it creates the greenhouse gases to spread all over the atmosphere. The Carbon Cycle is the series of processes which Carbons are converted into the environment involving the incorporation of Carbon Dioxide into living tissues by photosynthesis and returning it into the atmosphere through respiration. The decaying of dead organisms and the burning of fossil fuels. It is bad because Burning Fossil fuels puts carbon into the atmosphere.

Even though we burn fossil fuels for transportation, the production of electricity and industrial factories it causes harm to the environment. If we choose to depend on the fossil fuels our emissions will increase. We can choose to use renewable energy sources to cause our emissions not to increase. Although that is a difficult task to do I believe it will be the only way for us to not ruin the environment. What we can use for alternative power sources are wind turbines. While the wind blows the turbines, it produces a great alternative source of energy. Although, the only down side to this is that not all areas can have these wind turbines because only places that have strong winds have the best chance to work very efficiently. Other than that, there comes Solar Panels. It is the best alternative for a renewable energy source. Energy from the sun is absorbed by panels which converts it into electricity. So far it has been the most effected way to conserve energy. The downside to this is the cost because the solar panels are very expensive to produce.

With all the Greenhouse Gases occurring in our atmosphere, it also affects the sea-levels. It causes the sea-levels to increasingly rise by a large amount since the Polar Ice Caps are melting which are causing the sea-levels to rise. The Acid-base equilibrium neutralize each other. If the buffering were to stop then the ocean would be more acidic and the animals in the sea wouldn’t survive anymore. If the equilibrium is not leveled, then it would be completely unbalanced then it would cause it to not have a lower concentration level.

There are four different areas that contribute the most carbon in my household. One is Travel, because we have seven cars that are available to us at the house. Each of us has a car to use and an extra car just in case something happens to one of them. Then comes the food, all four of us love to cook and bake so we use a lot of the electricity to use that produce a lot of the greenhouse gases. Next is Home, which we are using Natural gases and other items we use to complete the tasks we need to do. And finally, there are the other necessities we use that cause more greenhouse gases to escape. We can remember to turn off the TV, Lights, Power Strips, etc. anything pretty much that requires energy. When it is over 70 degrees outside, I should try just air drying my clothes instead of using the dryer. Once we remember to turn off all the things we aren’t using we can start get to use to conserving energy.

There can be many ways for us to improve in our transportation by carpooling with one another. Only issue is that everyone in the house has a different schedule every day. So, it is quite difficult for us to improve on our carbon footprint. Although, what we can do is we can carpool occasionally and just wait for one another to get off work/school or maybe even ride a bike. We have been struggling to sell a few of our cars but there is a possibility for us to sell at least two of them so we can buy a hybrid car that doesn’t burn fossil fuels as much as regular cars that run on gasoline.

 For the food and diet, we can choose to cook less and choose to meal prep for everyday of the week. The current diet I have is completely different than in the Australian online survey, I don’t follow the amount of carbs you’re supposed to ingest daily. Probably even go on a low carb diet and start eating organic foods. I should remember the to count the carbs I eat per day, so I do no overeat and ruin my health. Finally, I should reduce the waste my family decides to throw away and remember to put the recyclables in the recycling bin. Saving the amount of toilet paper, paper towels and other items can really help. Ensuring this can make a huge difference in improving the carbon footprint relative to recycling and waste.