Contemporary Issues in Business (Individual Report) Essay

Contemporary Issues in Business (Individual Report) - Essay ExampleOver long periods of geological time, the creations climate has been constantly changing in response to the tilt and shape of the earths orbit as it moves around the sunniness, the strength and intensity of the sun coupled with the composition of the earths atmosphere, the basic shape and position of the continents. There has been strong evidence that some human activities such as the affair of fossil fuels are responsible for the constant emission of harmful greenhouse gases that are now causing an maturation in the earths temperate in amplification to other changes in climate (Richter 2010). greenhouse emissions are currently projected to increase significantly within the next few decades which will cause an increase in global temperatures and subsequently put to great risk the human society and natural environment worldwide (Pedersen and Nordic Council of Ministers 2000). Climate Change and the Greenhouse Ef fect The temperature on the get along of the earth is largely determined by the balance between the energy that is constantly re-radiated to space from the earth mostly in the form of infra-red radiation and the energy that comes from the sun which is seen to be in the form of visible radiation (sunlight). When the sunlight passes through the earths atmosphere, it has relatively in truth little warming effect but when it finally manages to come into contact with the earths surface, it warms it and the earth in turn warms the atmosphere by some(prenominal) convection and via emission of infra-red radiation which are absorbed by the greenhouse gases (R.I.C. Publications 2007). The greenhouse gases eventually return some of the infra-red radiation back to the earths surface which ends up further warming the earths surface. An analogy of this chain of events is often made with reference to greenhouses which generally allow sunshine to pass through their clear plastic or glass which i n turns stop the heat that is inside the green house from escaping into the atmosphere and hence the use of the term greenhouse effect (R.I.C. Publications 2007). Fossil Fuels and the change in Climate System Fossil fuels are formed when the bodies of living organisms die and remain compressed and heated all over extremely long periods of time to form natural gases, oil and coal. When burned, fossil fuels are seen to produce significant amounts of energy a factor which causes them to be considered as an extremely valuable energy source. However, the burning of these fossil fuels produces the emission of carbon dioxide, resulting in the introduction into the carbon cycle of carbon that would have otherwise appease remained trapped in the earths geosphere (Downie, Brash and Vaughan 2009). It is currently estimated that the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for adding to the atmosphere an estimated 3.2 billion metric tons of carbon. Because the earths carbon cycle is unable to a bsorb all of this excess carbon being released into the atmospher