How does increase in CO2 lead to global warming and amount of global warming related to rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) acts like a blanket for Earth. It allows sunlight to pass through and reach the surface, warming things up. But unlike some gases in the atmosphere, CO2 also traps some of the heat radiating back out from Earth. This is called the greenhouse effect, and it's vital for keeping our planet warm enough for life.
However, there's a problem. Human activities, mainly the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, are significantly increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. This extra CO2 traps more heat, causing the average global temperature to rise – that's global warming.
Here's a breakdown of the process:
The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped, leading to a greater warming effect. This effect is well-established by scientific evidence.
The exact amount of warming caused by rising CO2 levels is a complex issue studied by climate scientists. It's not a simple linear relationship, but there's a general correlation. As CO2 concentrations increase, global temperatures tend to rise.
Using fossil fuels takes carbon out of the ground and burning it puts CO2 into the atmosphere. When there's more CO2 in the atmosphere, it makes the atmosphere warmer by trapping heat. Since humans are adding more CO2 to the atmosphere, that helps explain why temperatures are increasing around the world.Carbon dioxide is Earth's most important greenhouse gas: a gas that absorbs and radiates heat. Unlike oxygen or nitrogen (which make up most of our atmosphere), greenhouse gases absorb heat radiating from the Earth's surface and re-release it in all directions including back toward Earth's surface. Carbon dioxide has the property of trapping the heat provided by sunrays. Higher the level of carbon dioxide, higher is the amount of heat trapped. This results in an increase in the atmospheric temperature, thereby causing global warming. CO2 to the atmosphere, that helps explain why temperatures are increasing around the world. The increase in the burning of fossil fuels and other activities by human beings in the last 200+ years is contributing to temperature increases by releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere. Global monthly average concentrations of carbon dioxide have risen from around 337 parts per million in 1979 (averaged over the year) to 417 parts per million in 2022, an increase of more than 20% in 44 years.Increases in CO2 can contribute to global warming, which may (1) accelerate sea-level rise through melting of polar ice fields and steric expansion of oceans, (2) alter rainfall patterns and salinity regimes, and (3) change the intensity and frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes. Without carbon dioxide, Earth's natural greenhouse effect would be too weak to keep the average global surface temperature above freezing. By adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, people are supercharging the natural greenhouse effect, causing global temperature to rise.
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