Global Warming and its Relationship to the Carbon Cycle
PART 1
As the winter holidays near, several neighborhood children complain about the lack of snow in your area. It has been a bit warmer this season, you think. In fact, as you reflect more on the weather, you recall that you did not have much snow last year, either.
Is this what scientists are talking about when they refer to global warming?
Global warming is a popular topic in today’s media. A lot of information is available, but it is still difficult to understand global warming, the science that explains it, and its impact on the survival of living organisms on Earth.
For this week’s Discussion and Assignment, you examine global warming and its relationship to the carbon cycle.
In the Discussion, you explore the correlation between CO2 (carbon dioxide) levels in the Earth’s atmosphere and global warming. You evaluate how your own activities, as well as human activity, in general, influence the carbon cycle.
Use the EPA interactive tool in this week’s Learning Resources to determine your carbon footprint.
When you have completed the tool, click on View your Report.
Use the Print/Save option to save your report as a pdf document where you can find it.
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
EPA Carbon Calculator
Fowler, S., Roush, R., & Wise, J. (2013). Chapter 4: How cells obtain energyLinks to an external site.. In Concepts of biology. Openstax.
Fowler, S., Roush, R., & Wise, J. (2013). Chapter 5: PhotosynthesisLinks to an external site.. In Concepts of biology. Openstax.
Media
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2020). Household carbon footprint calculatorLinks to an external site. [Interactive tool].
Global Warming
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Global Warming
Since the Industrial Revolution, the average global annual temperature has increased by about one to two degrees Fahrenheit (Al‐Ghussain, 2019). This increase is attributed to human activities which have rapidly increased the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is a natural process in which atmospheric gases like carbon dioxide trap the sun’s heat and warm the earth’s surface (Fowler et al., 2013). Human activities like burning fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation increase the accumulation of carbon and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (Al‐Ghussain, 2019). This intensifies the greenhouse effect, trapping additional heat in the atmosphere and slowly warming the planet. Therefore, global warming is the rise in the average global temperature caused by high concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere.
Global Warming and Its Relationship to the Carbon Cycle