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Yet these chemicals don’t disappear right away they can stay in our atmosphere for ever fifty years causing the molecules of the ozone layer to breakdown creating a hole. Global warming is caused by excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere which mainly comes from the burning of fossil fuels. So what do these two phenomena’s have in common? Does one cause the other, and do the two produce the same effect? In the last 1 00 years scientists have been looking into our planets global warming issues, but there are others that care to dismiss it all together.
Since the turn of the industrial age there have been studies that show that the earth’s temperature has increased. Carbon dioxide is considered the trace gas of greatest importance because of the substantial increase in its atmospheric concentration as well as its probable continued rise due to global consumption of fossil fuels. This is from factories, cars and other things that humans have made or use on day to day bases. With the usage of these items the buildup of these gases become trapped in the earth’s atmosphere, and that leads to a thick black smog layer that surrounds the earth.
So when the sun shines and the IV rays o through this smog most of the rays get trapped from leaving the earth’s atmosphere which contributes to the earth’s temperature rising. The other thing that adds to earth’s surface temperature rising is the cutting down Of trees all around the world, by doing this there are less trees to take in the carbon dioxide that we put out. With the lack of trees and the buildup of the gases, it is causing the polar ice caps to start melting down. With global warming taking place in the last 100 years the earth’s temperature has increased about half a degree Celsius.
Which may not sound like much, but even half a degree has an effect on our planet. According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “the sea level has risen 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 CM) in the last 1 00 years. ” But the rising temperature and icebergs could play a small role in the rising ocean level. Icebergs are chunks of frozen glaciers that break off from landmasses and fall into the ocean. The rising temperature is causing more icebergs to form by weakening the glaciers, by creating more cracks and making ice more likely to break off.
As soon as the CE falls into the ocean and begins to melt, the sea level begins to rise. The ozone layer and global warming share a common cause, that is created by human activities that release gases into the atmosphere and eventually alters the atmosphere as a whole. Ozone depletion is caused by chlorofluorocarbons or CIFS which were previous found in aerosol spray cans and refrigerants that were released into the atmosphere, until they were banned in 1996. Yet CIFS take over fifty years to disappear from the atmosphere.
Once released into the atmosphere the CIFS go through a series f chemical reactions that break down the ozone molecules, which reduces the ozone’s ability to absorb IV light radiation. Due to pollution released by humans that contain chlorine and bromine there is a widespread depletion of the ozone layer. “One atom Of chlorine can destroy more than a hundred thousand ozone molecules” (National Geographic). Does global warming cause the hole in the ozone layer to keep growing? Or does the hole in the ozone layer cause global warming? Scientists believe that Global Warming will lead to a weaker Ozone layer, because as the surface temperature rises, he stratosphere (the Ozone layer being found in the upper part) will get colder, making the natural repairing of the Ozone slower” (Shah). Scientists also believe that the ozone layer is three times the size of the United States and that more than 60 percent of the ozone over the Arctic Circle was lost in the winter of 1999 alone. So global warming directly causes the hole in the ozone layer to spread. However, the ozone layer does not cause global warming.