“Global warming.” This environmental phenomenon’s a pretty big deal, right? I feel like everyone recognizes the term “global warming,” but no one really understands its implications for the Earth we all live on.
Everyday the atmosphere regulates the temperature of the Earth. This natural process, commonly referred to as the “greenhouse effect,” involves the capture of solar energy by greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases consist of molecules with the ability to absorb infrared radiation from the sun.
Carbon dioxide, methane, and other molecules containing more than two atoms serve as greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Without this natural effect in place, the temperature of the Earth would be approximately 60 degrees lower than it is today.
I know what you’re thinking: if the greenhouse gas effect serves as an essential process for regulating the Earth’s temperature, why do people express so much concern about global warming?
Global warming gained popularity because of the noticeable increase in greenhouse gases. The rather rapid increase in greenhouse emissions due to human activity now accompany the carbon dioxide, methane, and other oxides that occur naturally in the environment. Every time we drive our cars or heat our buildings, we release these harmful gases into the air.
The more molecules in the air, the greater the absorption of infrared radiation, and thus, the increased temperatures we experience on the Earth. These higher temperatures melt the polar ice caps, raise the water levels of the oceans around the globe, and pose a serious threat to the natural ecosystems currently in place.
We cannot completely reverse the effects of our greenhouse emissions, but we can definitely reduce them.
The topic of sustainability definitely concerns renewable resources and energy conservation. The rising costs of electricity and fossil fuels motivate the recent research and interest in these areas.
To emphasize the environmental and financial drain on resources in our own community, I researched Penn State’s greenhouse emissions.
In 2008, the Penn State campuses collectively emitted 599,824 Metric Tonne Carbon Dioxide Equivalents (mtCO2e). Not exactly sure what that means? Neither did I. The wonderfully informative site green.psu.edu clarified this large number. According to the website, 599,824 mtCO2es are equivalent to CO2 emissions from the combustion of 1,394,940 barrels of oil. Keep in mind that Penn State comprises just one of many Universities nationwide that depend on energy to house, feed, and provide high-caliber educational facilities for its student body.
Unfortunately, Penn State continues to renovate and construct larger and better-equipped facilities that require additional energy. So how will the campus combat these necessary evils? Like many other corporations and universities nationwide, Penn State recognized its large amount of energy consumption and instituted serious measures to reduce it.
Right now, renewable resources supply 20% of the University’s energy. This percentage exceeds the national average of 7%. The University also designed and installed a natural gas combustion turbine with a heat recovery steam boiler at the East Campus Steam Plant within the last five years. The gas-powered turbine co-generates seven megawatts of electricity and 100,000 pounds of steam per hour. This project generates an amount of energy equivalent to the electricity used by 5,110 homes in a year. And aside from truly tangible measures, the University continues to educate the student body and faculty on reducing individual carbon footprints.
Does the University implement a productive means of reducing energy? Yes. Are there more ways to do so? Absolutely. This University only addresses a fraction of the ways to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
The combustion of these greenhouse gases definitely contribute to theory of global warming. However, this much debated topic arouses a great deal of controversy. Researchers identify the damage of greenhouse gases to the ozone, yet recognize that a great deal of other factors play a role in climate change and temperature regulation.
Only time will tell us the fate of the Earth as we know it, but in the meantime we should all take considerable measures to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gases. Such environmentally-friendly practices protect our Earth as well as our individual health. As the Earth changes, we need to continue to adapt and improve our standards of living so that we can sustain ourselves for many years to come.
Global warming? Perhaps. A global problem? Definitely.
Get involved, advocate, and educate. This is our world, our community, and our home.
Lately the term “climate change” has replaced global warming b/c
1. it is more accurate
and
2. It prevents skeptics from sitting in the middle of a central PA winter and scoffing at the idea of global warming.
…just sayin’
Global Warming is definitely an issue. However, it sounds like such a mystical problem that most people don’t take it seriously. The other day, I actually heard someone say that they didn’t believe in global warming. Uhm, okay that’s like not believing the earth revolves around the sun. There’s a whole lot of proof.
I think if more people were educated on exactly what global warming is, they wouldn’t think of it as such an ellusive topic. We, as humans, live our daily lives emitted some naturally occurring gases into the atmosphere. However, the increased level of gases traps heat close to the earth, and this causes a HUGE problem.
You mentioned the dangers posed to wildlife systems, and you were so right. Not only do thinning polar ice caps pose a huge threat to polar bears and other arctic animals that call these masses homes, the melting of the caps has the potential to raise the temperature of our oceans a significant amount. Many marine wildlife cannot deal with this shift in temperature, and they face imminent danger.
Another huge problem associated with global warming also corresponds to raising ocean levels and decreased land mass. This could be a huge issue, since the human population is constantly expanding and we require more land to live on. Basically, global warming is a big problem.
It is nice to know that Penn State, which is pretty much a city in and of itself, is taking measures to reduce it’s negative impact on the earth and our atmosphere. If other colleges, and eventually cities, adopt these measures, we can halt the harmful effects of global warming.
The lab I work in is actually working on a material that would absorb (well technically adsorb, with a “d,” adsorbing is basically just absorbing but through the entire material, absorbing is just on the surface of the material) carbon dioxide. The material is still in its development stage, so it is not as good as it could be. However, I am really excited to be working on the project because I realize that it could be a huge help in preventing the release of enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Basically, I’m kind of a big deal.
And you just turn off your lights when you leave the room and call that “being sustainable.” Pffffttt.
Need more energy? WIND TURBINES. Green.psu.edu is a great website. I used it as a resource for a large portion of my project. They provide simple explanations of Penn State’s energy usage. Global warming is a topic that I do not know a lot about. I know that there are two sides to the argument but I have not decided where my stance is on the issue. Some people say that we won’t have the ice caps in 20 years while others say that global warming is a myth. If the ice caps melt we are going to lose a lot of countries under water. It is a lot to take in. I guess I will just wait to find out if my house will be under water in 20 years.