Greenhouse effect Global warming

Hydrocarbon fuels have changed the way we live. Our dependence on them, however, has affected the world around us. The greenhouse effect, global warming, acid rain, and pollution are familiar topics on the news today. Our use of petroleum products, such as oil and gasoline, is linked directly to these problems. 

Greenhouse effect, global warming potential (GWP) in kg of CO2 equivalent... 

In industrial societies, these are the key elements of such a culture. There are constraints on this culture. One is enviromnental - the growing concern about the greenhouse effect, global warming, as well as air, soil, water quality and the health of inhabitarrts. 

Atmosphere NOx Cause acidic rains. N2O is responsible for greenhouse effect (global warming). 

In the discussion of ecotoxicity the perhalogenated chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrogen-containing hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and the chlorine-free hydrofluorocarbons (HCFs) have been for several years in the headlines (the depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, the greenhouse or global warming effects in the troposphere).75... 

Carbon. Most of the Earth s supply of carbon is stored in carbonate rocks in the Hthosphere. Normally the circulation rate for Hthospheric carbon is slow compared with that of carbon between the atmosphere and biosphere. The carbon cycle has received much attention in recent years as a result of research into the possible relation between increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, most of which is produced by combustion of fossil fuel, and the "greenhouse effect," or global warming. Extensive research has been done on the rate at which carbon dioxide might be converted to cellulose and other photosyntheticaHy produced organic compounds by various forms of natural and cultivated plants. Estimates also have been made of the rate at which carbon dioxide is released to soil under optimum conditions by various kinds of plant cover, such as temperature-zone deciduous forests, cultivated farm crops, prairie grassland, and desert vegetation. 

Fenner (11) has pointed out that short-lifetime constituents of the atmosphere such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and nonmethane hydrocarbons may also play roles related to global warming because of their chemical relations to the longer-lived greenhouse gases. Also, SO, with a very short life interacts with ozone and other constituents to be converted to particulate sulfate, which has effects on cloud droplet formation. 

The Royal Society (London), The Greenhouse Effect the scientific basis for policy. Submission to the House of Lords Select Committee, 40 pp. (1989). See also Global Climate Change, Information Pamphlet (12 pp.) i.ssued by the American Chemical Society (1990) B. Hileman, Global Warming, Chem. Eng. News, April 27, 7-19 (1992) and references cited therein. 

Other than longer-term supply issues the main driver for moving away from fossil resources is pollution. Since pre-industrial times the level of atmospheric CO2 has risen from 280 ppm to 360 ppm, and whilst some observers believe this may be a natural cycle in the Earth s history, most believe it is a direct consequence of burning fossil fuels. This additional CO2 is now thought to be the main cause of global warming via the greenhouse effect (see Box 6.1). 

In addition to hydrothermal and volcanic activity, metamorphism may have influenced the CO2 levels of the atmosphere and caused climate changes. Based on a model of the Cenozoic extension in the North American Cordillera, Nesbitt et al. (1995) demonstrated that CO2 generation associated with crustal extension may have been a major contributor to the elevated CO2 levels of the Cenozoic atmosphere and the resulting global warming due to the CO2 greenhouse effect. 

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