Anthony Striepe

Is Carbon Dioxide Causing Global Warming?

The Earth is a very busy place in this day and age. What makes the earth a very busy place is the amount of people on it. The people want to work, so they build factories and other places of work. These places produce a lot of pollution and carbon dioxide. Is this making the Earth warmer? Some of these factories use nonrenewable materials and resources. It is in the name that these resources and fossil fuels are hard to find more of and could be gone after lots of use. When these resources are used, they emit gases, specifically carbon dioxide, which hurt the environment. This affects climate sensitivity, which melts snow and permafrost. It is also heating land that is dry, causing fires and heat waves. Australia has experienced this first hand through the recent bushfires. The fires were partially caused by the high temperatures and drought that was going on in the region.

Carbon dioxide is abundant in the atmosphere. It is the fifth most abundant and makes up about .04% of the atmosphere. While that seems small, it amounts to about 3 trillion tons. Carbon dioxide doesn’t just stay in the atmosphere though. Some of it is absorbed into the ocean. This harms the ocean just as much as the atmosphere. Higher levels of carbon dioxide can harm fish and their abilities. The ocean also gets more acidic when it absorbs carbon dioxide. Another place that is affected is the arctic. Ice is meant to be cold, not hot, so when it gets hot it melts. Animals like polar bears and penguins don’t have homes without the ice, and are very affected by climate change.

Overall, carbon dioxide is causing climate change and we need to do something about it. We need to find another way than burning fossil fuels to produce energy, so that not as much carbon dioxide is being released into our atmosphere and oceans.