The cause of global warming is human activity

Global warming or global warming the day it gets worse. If allowed to continue, this climate change can threaten the life of the earth and everything in it - including humans. Psstt.. Maybe you secretly have a habit that turns out to be part of the cause of global warming!

What is global warming?

Global warming is a phenomenon of drastic climate change due to an increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans and landmasses. The NASA report states that Earth's temperature has now jumped 7 º Celsius, hotter than 5 thousand years ago. NASA also predicts the Earth will warm up to 6 º Celsius in the next century.

This figure of increase does appear slight if only at first glance. However, global warming is not a trivial phenomenon. The warming of the earth has resulted in so many extreme disasters that have claimed many victims.

What is the impact of global warming?

Extreme climate change has caused immortal glaciers in the north pole and icebergs such as Kilimanjaro and Jaya Wijaya to melt drastically. When Earth's temperature rises and the ice melts, the volume of sea water increases so that the average sea level also increases. Global sea levels have risen by 20 centimeters in the last hundred years.

This causes the coastline to begin to erode and causes the coastal land to sink. At least eight lowland islands in the Pacific Ocean have disappeared below sea level, while some are like the islands of the Maldives (Maldives), Fiji and Kiribati are still at high risk of drowning.

This erosion of the coastline then puts metropolitan cities with high human populations near coastal plains or river deltas (Shanghai, Bangkok, Jakarta, Tokyo, and New York) at great risk. In fact, almost half of the Dutch landmass has been "swallowed" below sea level.

But as polar ice melts and sea levels rise, parts of sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing prolonged drought global warming . The rise in Earth's temperature has also resulted in tropical storms and extreme heat waves (heatwave) which resulted in the death of hundreds of people in various parts of the world.

That's not all. For humans, global warming can cause the risk of allergies, asthma, and infectious disease outbreaks to become more common due to increased air pollution, increased rainfall, and the spread of germs carried by insects or mosquitoes such as dengue fever (DHF).

What causes global warming?

Earth's average temperature has nearly doubled from 50 years ago. The increase in temperature does more or less follow the natural geographical cycle of the earth. However, this extreme change occurring so rapidly cannot be justified by this alone.

Scientists conclude that the main cause of global warming is the emission of carbon dioxide gas as a greenhouse effect (ERK) from human activities. The greenhouse effect is actually a natural process that should make Earth a comfortable place to live

ERK occurs when a blanket of atmospheric gases traps some of the sun's heat, making Earth a warm and habitable planet. During the day, sunlight will penetrate the atmosphere to warm the Earth before finally cooling off again at nightfall. However, this temperature drop is not drastic because some of the heat remains trapped in the atmosphere.

The energy absorbed by the atmosphere will keep Earth's temperature warm. Without the protection of the atmosphere, the Earth could not be inhabited by living things because it was so cold. Even so, human activities such as the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) actually increase the amount of hot gas released into the air, thus changing the principle of the Earth's natural greenhouse effect.

The more hot gas produced by humans, the more heat is trapped by the atmosphere to be reflected back to the earth. This is a major problem that contributes to global warming.

What are the human activities that cause global warming?

Global warming occurs when greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants are absorbed by the atmosphere and reflected back to the earth's surface. Here are xx human activities that are the main cause of global warming.

1. Deforestation (deforestation)

Millions of hectares of forest in various parts of the world are cut down every year for commercial purposes, such as for making paper and furniture. Forests are also clear-cut to clear agricultural and livestock land, or to make way for residential and industrial areas.

Land clearing is not only done through logging. Not infrequently, rogue industrialists deliberately burn forests in order to clear land more quickly. Burning forests will certainly raise the average temperature in the area while also releasing larger portions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

In fact, plants and trees actually play a big role in balancing the greenhouse effect by absorbing more carbon dioxide and preventing it from being trapped in the atmosphere. Plants will release oxygen to help neutralize the earth's warming temperature.

The less forest land available, it is likely that the quality of oxygen on earth will get worse. Deforestation also destroys habitats that can threaten biodiversity.

2. Vehicle fuel gas emissions

Motor vehicle exhaust emissions are the biggest responsible for global warming. More than 90 percent of public transportation (both land, air and water) is powered by petroleum fuels, such as gasoline or diesel.

The gases released from this combustion process release carbon dioxide and other pollutants, such as methane and nitrous oxide. Every gallon of gasoline you use to ride a car or motorcycle on a daily basis can contribute 10 kilograms of carbon dioxide to the earth's atmosphere.

Worse yet, each type of pollutant gas has different heat trapping capabilities. Some of them can trap even more heat than carbon dioxide.

Methane molecules, for example, can't hang around in the air as long as CO2 but are able to trap heat 84 times as fast and a lot. Nitrous oxide is even 264 times more potent than CO2.

Some of these gases will gradually destroy the quality of air, soil and water.

3. Industrial waste

Industrial and household waste gases are the third largest cause of global warming after motor vehicle gas emissions. Industry is also suspected to be the earliest cause of global warming that we have experienced to date. Research shows that global warming has slowly started to occur in the mid-19th century following the industrial revolution in the US and other countries.

Apart from the paper industry, the plastic industry is also one of the biggest masterminds of the triggers global warming . It is estimated that 12 million barrels of oil can produce 30 million PET plastic products. One barrel can contain about 159 liters (135 kg) of crude oil which can contain 118 kg of carbon. Roughly calculated, making each tonne of PET plastic can produce about 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).

3. Agricultural and livestock waste

The role of the livestock and agricultural industries in the worsening of global warming should not be underestimated. Apart from the impact of deforestation, the waste produced from fertilizers and animal manure also produces harmful gas emissions.

Breath, gas, and manure of livestock, especially cattle and buffalo, produce methane, which is a type of greenhouse gas. Compost made from animal waste also produces nitrous oxide gas.

Agricultural industrial waste contributed 9% of the total volume of greenhouse gas emissions produced in 2017.

4. Use of electricity

Petroleum, natural gas and coal-fired power plants are by far the second largest emitters of greenhouse gases after the manufacturing industry. In the United States, burning coal for electricity generates about two billion tonnes of waste CO2 each year.

Wasteful electricity use accounted for 27.5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2017.

How to prevent global warming?

There are some simple things you can do to prevent global warming. The first is by reducing greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming. Simply put, you can try the following things:

• Reduce motor vehicle exhaust emissions. Instead of using a private car for traveling, use public transportation such as KRL or MRT. Cycling and walking are even better.
• Saving electricity. Turn off the lights and unplug electronics from the socket whenever you are leaving the house.
• Save water. For example, if you are accustomed to taking a bath using a tub and a dipper, try using them shower . Less water is released when using shower instead of using a scoop.
• Green the environment by planting and caring for plants. Plants help absorb carbon dioxide and produce more oxygen.