• Question: what causes global warming

    Asked by Alina to Caroline on 6 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Caroline Hickman

      Caroline Hickman answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      Global warming is caused by a number of things

      1) Human activities like burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas releases CO2 pollution into the atmosphere, this collects in the atmosphere and absorbs sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally, this radiation would escape into space—but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. Sometimes this is called the greenhouse effect.

      2) Deforestation – where huge areas of forests have been cleared for farming means that there is less vegetation to absorb the CO2 from the atmosphere (and release Oxygen back into it in return). Forests help to regulate global warming for the planet, when we cut forests and burn wood it releases more CO2, which then makes global warming worse

      3) Farming – when we farm animals such as cows and sheep a lot of methane is produced – which is another greenhouse gas. This makes global warming worse again.

Comments

  • Photo: Stephen

    Stephen commented on :

    Caroline has covered many of the key issues that contribute to global warning and every little we can do ourselves can help combat it! We are the major cause of global warming and themlives we lead. Remember to switch lights off each time you leave a room, get your mum and dad to invest in energy efficient light bulbs, in the winter turn the temperature in the house down by a couple of degrees and put on a jumper or a hoodie.