Climate Change
...than global warming because it better describes all the changes that are happening to our environment. Climate change can include the rising of temperatures, change in precipitation and wind changes (U.S. EP, 2007). Global warming is slowly destroying our planet and we need to step up and slow its progress before there is nothing left to save.
Greenhouse gases that get trapped in our atmosphere and do not allow heat to escape cause these changes. Both humans and nature can cause these greenhouse gases.
The U.S. EPA (2007) reports:
In the U.S., our energy-related activities account for three-quarters of our human-
generated greenhouse gas emissions, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels. More than half the energy-related emissions
come from large stationary sources such as power plants, while about a third comes
from transportation. Industrial processes (such as the production of cement, steel,
and aluminum), agriculture, forestry, other land use, and waste management are
also important sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Greenhouse gases consist of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluoronated gases which consist of hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a colorless, odorless, non-flammable, non-poisonous gas (Merriam-Webster, 2007). Carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal as well as through chemical reactions such as the manufacturing of cement (U.S. EPA, 2007). Carbon dioxide is also taken from the atmosphere when plants absorb it (U.S. EPA, 2007). Methane (CH4) is a colorless, odorless, flammable gas (Merriam-Webster, 2007). Methane enters the atmosphere during the making and transportation of fossil fuels such as oil and...
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