Posted Sep 26, 2006 at 01:50AM by Maia L. Listed in: Global Warming, Weather Tags: NASA, El Nino
Ó

droughtEverything is interconnected in the cycle of life, no matter how big or small. And its never too late to do something about the continuous degeneration of our environment. Every action can cause a series of effects, some good but sometimes it also causes awful things. Take for example the issue on global warming. This is one of the most widely discussed issues, but the funny thing is, a large number of people are not aware of it.


If you've felt a piercing cold during a clear winter night and wondered why you feel warmer on a cloudy winter night, well, you have experienced the atmospheric greenhouse effect first hand. Remember what they taught you at school that the Earth is surrounded by a shield of atmospheric gas? Well, these are called greenhouse gases and they are a vital element in the survival of life forms in the Earth. Without these gases, the Earth's surface would be up to 30 degrees cooler.

The greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation from the Sun to warm the planet, but a chain of human activities such as the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas from burning of fossil fuels, the use of materials that emit chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane and nitrous oxide (N2O), alters the process, hence harming the natural balance of the Earth.


A greenhouse effect gone bad is what scientists call "anthropogenic climate change", and it is human induced. Yes dear citizens of Earth, WE caused it and most of us are still unaware of it! Two of the major effects of "anthropogenic climate change" are El Nino and global warming. The effects of these two phenomena are very destructive since they lead to extreme weather conditions.

A paper by James Hansen NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, and his colleagues discuss the effects of El Nino and global warming. They said that the Earth is within 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) of its highest temperature levels in the past million years. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface temperatures increasing about 0.4 degrees F (0.2 degrees C) for each of the last three decades.

WSI Corp. predicted that the U.S. will experience warmer-than-normal weather over the Northeast and Midwest for the rest of this year. So next time you do something, think that what you do now will not only affect you, but atmospheric conditions as well.




[Via ars technica] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

Bookmark / Find this article on:


2 Comments


Sort by:
   by Advertising -
   by arrhiz (Unregistered) - 2006-09-26

with your post,hopefully many people will be educated.

   by tinglemaps - 2006-09-27
 » ...

how do they know what the temperatures have been for the past 1million years? what year was the thermometer invented?



Featured Content
QJ.NET Blog Network RSS Feeds
MyQJ Feed / PDA
MyQJ RSS / PDA
Blog of Blogs Feed / PDA
QJ.NET RSS / PDA
Gaming Consoles Feed / PDA
Nintendo DS RSS / PDA
PlayStation 3 RSS / PDA
PSP Updates RSS / PDA
Wii RSS / PDA
Xbox 360 RSS / PDA
PC Gaming Feed / PDA
Age of Conan RSS / PDA
Games for Windows RSS / PDA
MMORPG RSS / PDA
Tabula Rasa RSS / PDA
World of Warcraft RSS / PDA
Science Feed / PDA
Science RSS / PDA
Technology Feed / PDA
Apple RSS / PDA
Gadgets RSS / PDA
Mobile RSS / PDA
Photography RSS / PDA
Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!

 Username: 
 Password:
Forgot password
New user registration



Poll
Are unidentified flying objects (UFOs) really alien spaceships?
Earth Science
General Science
Health Science
Space
Archives