Human Activity

1
Human Activity Climate Change
2
The ANTHROPOGENIC GREENHOUSE EFFECT

• The anthropogenic greenhouse effect is the
  enhancement of the Earths natural greenhouse
  effect due to human activities.
• Anthro Human
• The main cause of climate change is the increased
  amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Common greenhouse gases produced by humans are
• Carbon dioxide CO2
• Methane CH4
• Nitrous oxide N2O

3
GREENHOUSE GASES

• A greenhouse gas is a gas that has the ability to
  trap heat at or near the surface of the Earth.
• Greenhouse gases can be made naturally and the
  Earth is able to deal with the amount of heat
  they trap, but, human activity has greatly
  increased the amount of greenhouse gases present
  in the atmosphere. This, in turn, greatly
  increases the heat-trapping ability of the planet.

4
GREENHOUSE GASES

• Greenhouse gases have a value called the global
  warming potential which measures the ability of a
  gas to trap thermal energy in the air over a
  specific time.
• A persistence value is also given for each gas.
  Persistence measures the length of time the gas
  remains in the atmosphere.

Gas Global Warming Potential over 100 years Persistence (Years)
Carbon Dioxide 1 -
Methane 25 12
Nitrous Oxide 298 114
5
Greenhouse Gas Concentrations

• Over the last few hundred years, there has been a
  tremendous increase in all three greenhouse
  gases.
• This trend mirrors the growth of the human
  population.
• More People More Gases

6
Sources of Greenhouse Gases
Greenhouse Gas Sources
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) Cement making Deforestation
Methane (CH4) Coal mining Production of Petroleum Products Natural Gas Leaks Landfills, cattle farming.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Burning fossil fuels Fertilzers
7
Human Activity Greenhouse Gases

• Humans contribute more greenhouse gases to the
  atmosphere than any other species by far!
• What do we do that puts so much greenhouse gas
  into the air?
• Transportation 22
• Fossil Fuel Industry 20
• Mining and Industry 18
• Electricity Heat Generation 17
• Residential 11
• Agricultural 7
• Waste 4
• Other 1

8
The Big Picture

• More people means more energy needed.
• More energy needed means more CO2 produced.
• More CO2 means more greenhouse gas and higher
  temperatures.

9
THE END