ANTH 1010 Lecture 7: Global Warming - The Basics (part 2)
Document Summary
The idea that emissions that we are currently putting into the atmosphere will not affect us until decades later. We are now in a situation where we have to take action and change the way we are interacting with the environment because it"s our actions that will make an impact in the future. A lot of the radiation that hits the earth by the sun is reflected back, however co2 and other ghg prevents this radiation from leaving the atmosphere, trapping the heat and warming the earth"s surface. Co2 is not a pollutant : w/out co2 all of the radiation will go back into space. Anthropogenic climate change comes from us combusting fossil fuels, adding to the naturally occuring presence of co2, trapping more heat than necessary. Cutting trees down (removing sinks) releases co2 into the atmosphere. Extra credit opportunity : paper companies and trees -- find out cutting old trees vs. planting trees.
