Earth’s Greatest Enemies?

Earth’s Greatest Enemies?

Climatologist James Lovelock (http://www.jameslovelock.org/) (originator of the Gaia_hypothesis ) once said that Earth’s greatest enemies were the Three C’s: cars, cows and chainsaws because of their contributions to destabilizing planetary climate.

In this Discussion Forum, you will answer the following question to show your ability to find connections among the environmental issues that you have learned about in this course and that is covered and interconnected within Chapter 20 in particular.

Number your responses so I can see you have addressed each part.

You must cite specific evidence from any Unit of the course to support each of your responses.
Each contributing factor is worth 2 points x 3 = 6 points.

1. What and how do each of these things contribute to the destabilizing of Earth’s atmosphere and its climate?

1a. cows?
1b. cars?
1c. chainsaws?

Reminders:

Loss of land plants because of human activities will not result in a reduction of atmospheric oxygen because most of planetary photosynthesis and its resulting oxygen production is in the oceans.
Be sure to back up your explanations with some research before discussing this topic online with your classmates. Be sure to read relevant sections of your text and look online. Start with the links in this question and the resources listed.

ANSWER

            Earth’s Greatest Enemies

1. What and how do each of these things contribute to the destabilizing of Earth’s atmosphere and its climate?

1a. Cows?

Cows are a major source of methane, a greenhouse gas responsible for damaging the earth’s atmosphere and climate. Cows release methane into the atmosphere by burping and passing out gases. Methane is about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide in altering atmospheric balance and bringing climate change. High demand for beef only increases the rate of cattle rearing. Over the course of the next century, experts estimate that cows will be responsible for 2% of global warming (Mikhaylov et al., 2020).

1b. cars?

Cars are a major contributor to greenhouse gases that destabilize the atmosphere and climate. Cars produce emissions when their engines burn gasoline and release gases through the tailpipes. Some greenhouse gas emissions come from the process of extracting petrol and delivering it. Cars are responsible for about 20% of all emissions in the United States alone. It is approximated that a gallon of gasoline upon complete combustion produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide which traps heat in the atmosphere hence causing global warming (Mikhaylov et al., 2020). The process of extracting materials needed in the manufacture of cars has adverse environmental impacts that destabilize the atmosphere and climate.

1c. chainsaws?

Chainsaws destabilize the earth’s atmosphere and climate by allowing people to cut down trees quickly and easily. Trees are the largest plants on earth and therefore contribute significantly to the regulation of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere. 40% of precipitation over land originates from plant water evaporation and transpiration (Luo et al., 2018). Continental interiors of continents like Australia and Africa depend on trees by about 30%. Trees are effective rain catchment agents that if cleared with the massive effectiveness of the chainsaw reduces precipitation thus contributing to climate change.

References

Luo, P., Zhou, M., Deng, H., Lyu, J., Cao, W., Takara, K., … & Schladow, S. G. (2018). Impact   of forest maintenance on water shortages: Hydrologic modeling and effects of climate         change. Science of The Total Environment, 615, 1355-1363.

Mikhaylov, A., Moiseev, N., Aleshin, K., & Burkhardt, T. (2020). Global climate change and      greenhouse effect. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 7(4), 2897.