There are two categories from which originate the causation of global warming: natural causes and man-made causes. The following are listed under the first category, the natural causes of global warming:
1. Melting permafrost
2. Volcanic eruptions
3. Forest fires
4. Water vapour
5. Decomposition process
Let us begin by tackling about the greenhouse effect, a frequently encountered concept that remains to be confusing to many. Amidst the atmosphere rests gases that are better referred to as greenhouse gases. The four major greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, and ozone; but other gases such as nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons may also be included but only to a limited extent. These gases have the capability to radiate back to the earth’s surface heat that has already been emitted by the latter which was reflected by the sun early on since they can absorb heat that could have been lost in space. The absorption of this energy warms the atmosphere resulting to the greenhouse effect. So what does the greenhouse effect have to do with global warming and how will events lead to it?
Evidently, the higher the concentration of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the more heat is reflected back to earth as more heat is absorbed; thus the warmer it then gets.
The first on the list is melting permafrost. Apparently, permafrost contains carbon dioxide, frozen and stored in it, which upon melting releases the most prominent type of greenhouse gas in the earth’s atmosphere. Turns out, the factors labeled as the other natural causes of global warming like volcanic eruptions and forest fires are both antecedent events that result to the massive liquefaction of the permafrost in the north and south poles.
Another cause is volcanic eruptions. Aside from the destruction of properties and livestock as volcanoes explode, they simultaneously disgorge carbon dioxide in the atmosphere along with its contents. It is said that a million pounds of carbon dioxide is spewed at one time. The sudden emission of this hefty amount causes temporary warming of the earth.
Forest fires act the same way as volcanic eruptions. They send carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere as an imminent combustion occurs in the forest. This inevitable contingency is brought to happen because the elements, heat, oxygen, and fuel necessary for it to occur are available in the forest surroundings.
The essence behind water vapour is simply the usual evaporation of sea waters, lakes, puddles and other body of water. Upon the changing of state from liquid to gas, water vapour immediately becomes a contributory to global warming as it is the most prevalent greenhouse gas. However, it is sometimes only a repercussion of the large-scale emission of carbon dioxide from factories and other human activities.
Last is the decomposition process. As animals die, a cycle known as decomposition cycle, a naturally occurring phenomenon, happens with which methane gas is released along the process. Furthermore, swamps, bogs, and peats naturally release methane gas in the atmosphere.
All of these events send one or the other greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Together they increase the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and trap the heat that earth reflects back to the sun. As a result heat once again is radiated back to the earth getting warmer and worse as time flies by. Although global warming may ensue without human intervention it still does not put us in the position to be complacent and continue to sustain the way we deal with nature.
Truth is we make global warming happen at a faster pace than natural occurrences would if they went through their normal processes on their own. We need to wake ourselves of the growing problem on global warming. A reality that needs a hasty response before it leads to our destruction.