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Carbon Footprint Relating to Global Warming

A footprint shows the mark you have left. A carbon footprint does the same, but it is your environmental mark, specifically related to carbon dioxide. The carbon footprint of an individual or organization refers to the impact made, because of the emission of carbon dioxide, on the gradual increase of the Earth's temperature, known as global warming or climate change. Environmentalists fighting to slow global warming warn us to reduce our carbon footprint to help save the environment.

History
- During the mid-1800s, scientists discovered that gases in the Earth's atmosphere trap heat from the sun, which in turn slightly increases the Earth's temperature over time. This is known as the "greenhouse effect." Several scientists during the late 19th century and early 20th century experimented with the theory that carbon dioxide is a gas that has a profound impact on the Earth's temperature. By the mid-1950s, scientist Roger Revelle began giving out warnings to the public and the government that the greenhouse effect should be taken seriously.
The Facts
- According to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, carbon dioxide was stable in our environment for thousands of years and then suddenly began to increase in the early 1800s, at the beginning of the industrial revolution. The Pew Center also states that the increase in carbon dioxide, which has always cycled naturally through our atmosphere, comes from human activities, such as combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities are what you would call your carbon footprint.
Prevention
- There are ways to decrease your carbon footprint to help reduce global warming. Plants and trees have the natural ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so reforestation, or planting trees, is a good preventative measure. The other main way you can lighten your carbon footprint is to reduce carbon dioxide omissions. This can be as simple as driving less or as drastic as lobbying the government for stronger clean energy laws.
Considerations
- Not everyone is in agreement about how our carbon footprint impacts global warming. There are skeptics who believe that carbon dioxide does not hurt the environment. William Happer writes on firstthings.com that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant and is, in fact, "the stuff of life." He argues that carbon dioxide is naturally produced by our bodies and has increased because the population has increased. Scientists continue to debate whether the increased temperature of our planet is a naturally occurring cycle or a human-produced "footprint" that should be stopped.

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