How could increased carbon dioxide be linked to global warming?

Answer 1

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a powerful greenhouse gas. In the atmosphere it captures the sun's heat and warms the planet. This is part of the natural carbon cycle. Additional carbon dioxidecomes from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas). This CO2 has been hidden underground for millions of years so its presence is an extra burden that the carbon cycle cannot manage.

A:Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring greenhouse gas. In previous concentrations, it helped maintain global temperatures at a level that is comfortable for humans and other animals that have adapted to the present climate. Increases in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are resulting in global warming, by trapping more heat. The planet Venus offers an extreme example - although its orbit is close to that of the Earth, Venus has a surface temperature that would melt lead, because its atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide.

In the very long term, concentrations have fallen below these levels, but always coinciding with Ice Ages. A very good demonstration of this come from an ice core two kilometres long and equivalent to 150,000-year record of warmth, cold and warmth, that a French-Soviet drilling team at Vostok Station in central Antarctica produced in 1985, a complete ice age cycle. They found that the level of atmospheric CO2 had gone up and down in remarkably close step with temperature throughout the length of the core.

The CO2 levels in the Vostok Station record got as low as 180 parts per million (ppm) in the cold periods and reached 280 in the warm periods, but never higher. But in the atmosphere over the ice, the level of the gas had already reached 350, far above anything seen in this geological era, and is now around 380 ppm.

From the time of the Industrial Revolution, things began to change, slowly at first, then gradually more quickly, especially after 1970. Using isotope comparisons for C12, C13 and C14 ratios, scientists have proven that the increase from 260-280 ppm to the present 390 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide is entirely due to human activities.

A:Global warming is a slow but steady rise in earth's temperatures and is caused, largely, by increase in greenhouse gases, of which the major human contribution is carbon dioxide.

The greenhouse effect warms the atmosphere and is caused by atmospheric carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis consumes carbon dioxide tending to counteract greenhouse effect.

A:The Earth is much like a greenhouse where the gasses produced by the plants will stay in the greenhouse to create a much more moist and humid atmosphere.

• Heat from the sun comes in as visible light.
• Heat escapes as infra-red radiation (invisible light)
• If they balance, THEN the temperature of the Earth stays constant.

Carbon dioxide tends to block the infra-red radiation, less heat escapes, and so the planet gets warmer.

A:

One of the more interesting issues that is often ignored in most discussions is the saturation issue of carbon dioxide. The first 20 ppm in our atmosphere make up most of the induced warming from carbon dioxide. After the first 150 ppm or so, the ability of carbon dioxide to increase temperature by itself become almost nill. (see Lindzen-Choi graph in related link). The doubling of CO2 from the 190 to 380 ppm has followed this trend and seen less then a degree (C) of overall warmth. Doubling again, using this graph, will see almost no additional heating of the planet according to this concept.

Answer 2

Simply:By burning fossil fuels for the past 200 years, and by cutting down forests, man has increased the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air. This has damaged the normal carbon cycle which keeps the temperature steady and the extra CO2 is causing an enhanced greenhouse effect which is making the planet gradually warmer, globally. In more detail:The greenhouse effect has kept the earth warm for millions of years. The natural carbon cycle of the earth keeps a steady amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Some of the sun's infrared radiation is reflected back into space, and some is trapped by greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, in the earth's atmosphere. This is good, because this keeps the earth's temperature at one we can live in, and not too cold.

Because the radiation is trapped, it is absorbed by the double bonds of carbon dioxide molecules, which transfer the radiation to kinetic energy as the bonds stretch and vibrate. The energy is then re-emitted at heat energy, which causes the atmosphere to warm up. If extra carbon dioxide appears, this warming will happen more, and the atmosphere will heat up too much.

Since the start of the Industrial revolution, 200 years ago, atmospheric levels of CO2 have risen exponentially, and we have witnessed a corresponding exponential rise in temperatures over time; the PPM of CO2 nearly doubling, and the average high temperatures increasing by 0.5~3*C depending on location. This has strongly suggested that the increase in CO2 levels is directly responsible for the rise in temperature levels.

A:Carbon Dioxide is known as a greenhouse gas. Is has been identified as one of the atmospheric gases that allow the sun's energy to pass through it but tends to prevent heat escaping. The theory of climate change is that as carbon dioxide levels rise, so do temperatures measured at the earth's surface. There is a significant amount of evidence in support of the theory but it has not been proved. One of the biggest problems in proving the theory is that the global climate on earth has been known to change without human intervention over hundreds or even thousands of years. No one is able to prove that the current trend of higher temperatures is caused by carbon dioxide emissions from from our technology or whether it is another natural climate change.

However, it is agreed by most scientists that global temperatures have been rising for the past several decades. The change is causing changing weather patterns and rising sea levels among other effects.

The number and increased severity of atmospheric storms worldwide has also been suggested to have a positive correlation to the increase in atmospheric CO2. This is in effect a reaction by the atmosphere to increased energy absorption and release in areas of high CO2 concentration. As storms are created by the clashing of high and low air pressure zones and air currents, increased CO2 may cause more numerous and extreme fluctuations in these atmospheric energy zones (the higher the air pressure at constant volume, the higher the energy! Remember Charles' law).

It is also important to note that as warm air masses become warmer, cold air masses will become colder, as more energy is exchanged between the two as they pass. therefore, temperature extremes (both hot and cold) may increase.

Opinions about fossil fuels contribution to climate change tend to be polarized. Some say that carbon dioxide released from fossil fuels doesn't contribute in any way at all while others claim that it is solely responsible for the change. Neither group can offer sufficient evidence to prove their claims.

We need to take seriously the future of energy supplies and consumption. If, unwittingly, we take steps to restore the carbon dioxide problem as we look for new energy sources, climate change might just be halted without ever proving the effect that fossil fuels have on it.

Answer 3

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases capture and retain the sun's heat. Increased carbon dioxide levels mean that more and more of this heat is retained. This is warming the earth and the atmosphere all round the world - global warming.

Answer 4

As far back as the nineteenth century, scientists established that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and that reducing the atmospheric concentration would result in global cooling, while increasing the atmospheric concentration would result in global warming. At that early stage of industrialisation, they believed that the process was too slow to be of any interest to them.

Since the latter part of the twentieth century, scientist have established that the surface temperature of Venus is far hotter than that of Mercury, although Venus is much farther from the sun. They now realise that this is the result of the greenhouse effect, because the atmosphere on Venus is almost pure carbon dioxide.

On earth, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and average global temperatures have risen more or less in tandem since the beginning of the Industrial Age. Although carbon dioxide levels continued to rise, there was a slight cooling during the third quarter of the twentieth century, as a result of the then high pollution levels which reflected the sun's energy back into space and help counteract the greenhouse effect. Allowing for this, scientists say there is no doubt that the recent rise in global temperatures is substantially caused by rising carbon dioxide levels.

A:

We understand why we have this link between carbon dioxide and temperature also. The bulk of our carbon dioxide is absorbed through our oceans. Liquids are unable to absorb as much CO2 as they warm. This is why there has always been a 800 year lag between the levels of CO2 and temperature.

A:The greenhouse effect has been keeping the Earth warm enough for human life since its beginnings. Infrared radiation comes from the sun into our atmosphere. The greenhouse gases of water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone (and a few others) prevent some of this heat reflecting back into space, thus keeping the planet warm.

However, since the 18th century, when we began to build factories, humankind has been slowly putting more and more CO2 into the atmosphere. Every time we burn coal, gas or oil we increase the amount of greenhouse gases.

Forests too, which absorb carbon dioxide, have been cut down, and are still being cut down, all over the planet. With fewer trees, more of the CO2 goes into the atmosphere.

In 1800 the world population was less than one billion. Today it is close to 7 billion. Seven billion people wanting food, water and electricity and a share in the good life make a colossal demand on the resources of our planet.

So the increased greenhouse gases keep in more of the sun's heat. Global warming!

AnswerNot all scientists agree that climate change is caused entirely or in part by changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Recently much has been written and said regarding "greenhouse gas" and "global warming, but it is important to put everything into perspective.

1. While some claim that the reduced number of trees has increased the quantity of greenhouse gas, it should be noted that there are more trees growing inside the boundaries of the United States than there were when Columbus arrived.

2. As Mark Twain quipped, "... there are lies, damned lies, and statistics." Yes, there has been an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere. The alarmists want everyone to know that the carbon dioxide has increased approximately 18 percent since man has used fire to manufacture our goods, but that percentage is only looking at the carbon dioxide in the air, comparing the carbon dioxide level now to the carbon dioxide of some time in the pas, not considering the other components.

Answer 5

• We know that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat.
• We know that burning fossil fuel releases additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and we can measure the levels.
• We know by measuring that the earth's temperature is rising.
• We can find no other reason for the rise except the extra greenhouse gas levels.
• So we think, and 97% of climate scientists think, that the increased levels are not only contributing to, but actually causing global warming.

Answer 6

The carbaon dioxide gets trapped in the upper atmosphere. The sun's ultraviolet rays penetrate through this, and then they essentially get reflected off of the earth's surface and turn into infrared rays. The infrared has more difficulty getting back through the carbon dioxide, and their residual heat warms the earth (slowly). This is essentially the greenhouse effect in layman's terms.

Answer:

Scientists do not think the CO2 increases will lead to the Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change in future. Their observations indicate that the effect is a real present problem now and has occurred and has passed the point that human intervention can reduce the impact or the continued impact from feedback from observed changes. Among impacts they report are:

• reduced ice cover at the North and South ice masses
• permafrost melting
• increased air temperatures
• shift in plant and animal species distribution
• songbird population decrease
• frequency of extreme weather events

Answer 7

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents heat from radiating into space. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the less the Earth is able to cool by radiation and therefore the warmer it becomes.

Answer 8

Historical correlation

(for example: gas & pollen trapped in polar ice).