Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Activity 6.2 Question

How are CO2 emissions, energy use in the U.S. and surface temperature related?

16 comments:

Meagan M. said...

In the United States, a lot of the energy used comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which gives off carbon dioxide. Studies have shown that an increase in CO2 emissions in the atmosphere may be linked to Earth's rising surface temperatures.

Christopher Noda said...

Right now the world is in a carbon crisis. Constantly too much co2 is being put into our air and into the atmosphere. From the slided show we have seen and the graphs we have interpreted we can be certain that the levels of co2 and the rise in surface temperature are linked. First off since the United states is responsible for the total of one quarter of the total co2 in the air we are totally responsible for the rise in co2. The weather is starting to act funny and not just because its Saint Louis. Temperatures are startingto rise, there are starting to be more and more hurricanes. Just a thought to how dangerous global warming is.

Jackie Schechter said...

Carbon dioxide emmissions, energy use in the United States, and The surface temperture are related. The use of energy in the U.S. and the coal burning factories create carbon dioxide and the increesed carbon dioxide in the air causes the surface temperature to increese.

SophieCJ said...

Since the US uses around 25% of all the energy in the World, and that is a large percentage for such a small country, they are linked in many ways. Since the US produces so much CO2, which adds to the huge amounts of CO2 already produced, it also contributes to raising surface temperatures. CO2 emissions do because they deplete the ozone and create the greenhouse affect, along with other such gases, which raises the temperature all over the world, therefor causing global warming.

Hadley Edwards said...

When people burn fossil fuels for energy, a lot of CO2 is being let out into the air. The Earth already has it's natural way of putting CO2 out into the air, we do not need any more. The United States is responsible for using 25% of the Earth's energy, thus putting out great amounts of CO2. This helps cause the greenhouse effect which causes warmer surface temperature. Also, if we keep putting out so much CO2, The Earth will get very warm, which will only be good for plants and insects that make us sick. The U.S. also has many big cities, which is where a lot of the CO2 is being emitted. If we don't stop emitting so much CO2, the ice caps will melt, and global warming will be in effect.

Christine Jackson said...

The United States, CO2 and surface temperature are all related because the United States produces about ¼ (25%) of the world’s CO2 emissions. Because the structure of carbon dioxide traps heat near the planet's surface that would otherwise radiate back out to space, all of the extra heat is caught on our planet, causing it to warm considerably. If the United States and other countries do nothing, we may be facing a temperature increase of 9 degrees Fahrenheit. This can cause extensive damage to our ecosystem, such as melting the ice caps, and rising the water level of the ocean.

matt tao said...

The CO2 emmissions, energy use and surface temperature in the US is realated because the energy the US uses becomes CO2. Then the CO2 is trapped in the atmosphere which makes the surface temperature rise because each year there is more trapped heat. The US accounts for 25% of the world's energy use which means the US creates a lot of CO2. The heat that is created is also bad because it can increase the chance of disease, the range of disease, and allowing pollens to appear quicker and stronger during their season.

Lucy Lloyd said...

CO2 emissions, energy use in the US and the earths surface temperature are related in many ways. The energy that the US uses each year becomes carbon dioxide, entering the atmosphere very quickly and dangerously. When there is more CO2 in the atmosphere, this means that there is heat trapped in the atmosphere. This is what causes global warming and the rise in the surface temperature of the earth.

anellore said...

In the United States, most of our energy comes from burning fossil fuels. This emits a lot of carbon dioxide. The Earth can already release its own CO2 in a natural way, we don't need to add even more. Also, now that global warming is getting worse, the weather has started to act funny. Just this morning, it was sunny, then 2 minutes later, it started snowing heavily, then it stopped just as fast as it had started. That's not just because it's St. Louis. Global warming is causing the Earth to be in dangerous peril, and if we don't do something soon, we won't be able to save our planet or the polar bears:(.

Suzie said...

CO2 emissions, energy use in the U.S., and the surface temperature are related. Carbon dioxide is part of earth's atmosphere. All plants and animals release CO2 during respiration, but green plants and producers use CO2 during photosynthesis; the earth has created a balance between CO2 input and output. But the use of technology has increased, so the amount of energy use has increased as well. The U.S. uses 25% of the world's energy, most of which is used in the form of fossil fuels that release much CO2. This CO2 is one of many greenhouse gases that trap the heat from the sun's rays that would originally be reflected off our atmosphere back into space. The amount of parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere determines our world's temperature. This causes a rise in surface temperature as well.

copalmer said...

CO2 emissions come from energy use. The energy comes from matter using it. The more energy that is used, the more CO2 will be in the air. And the surface temperature of the Earth will raise with the more CO2 in the air. The whole process of energy use causing CO2 causing hotter surface temperatures is like a cycle.

tstratton said...

All of these topics have appeared to be linked. First of all, we have seen the hard evidence that the CO2 emissions have increased progressively, the surface temperature has jumped around, but it increases little by little, and the energy use in the US has risen considerably. In the US, we consume 25% of the world's energy, while we dont have 25% of the world's population. We use the most energy per capita in the US, and since this substantial increase, CO2 emissions have increased progressively, and surface temperatures have also shown an increase. All of which, have been proven in reports and studies. This is definitely a problem of which we do not want to experiment with.

cebeling said...

Studies have shown that CO2, surface temperatures and energy use in the US are related. If we continue to use the amount of energy that we do, CO2 will continue to rise higher and higher. With rising CO2 levels comes many other unpleasant things. Allergies will start 9 days earlier by 2017 and will most likely be worse. A warmer and CO2 rich world is good for microbes and bugs that carry diseases and make us sick. According to the Newsweek article, mosquitoes are beginning to survive at much higher temperatures in the mountains than ever before. When CO2 levels rise, they deplete the ozone layer and they raise the temperature all over the world.

Ali Dalton said...

The amount of Carbon Dioxide emissions and the surface temperature of the earth are extremely related. With an increase in Carbon Dioxide emissions, as recent studies have shown, comes an increase in a phenomena that produces global consequences and a disruption in the natural balance of the atmosphere. Numerous organisms and things produce and absorb carbon dioxide, however nature has formed a way to preserve that natural balance and the Carbon dioxide inputs and outputs in the past were relatively equal. With an increase in the amount of fossil fuels being burned and the energy being consumed, the balance has been way off. This burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas are extreme contributors to Carbon Dioxide emissions and the rising of surface temperatures.

hnori said...

CO2 emissions and surface temperature are related in many ways. As the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases, it progresses to adding to the effect known as the "greenhouse effect". Basically, the greenhouse effect states that the C02 builds up in the atmosphere, acting like a one way mirror: letting heat in the form of radiant energy and not letting it back out. This causes the surface temperature to go up, causing the process known as "global warming". The U.S. energy use is related to this, because we contribute the most amount of this CO2 emmisions and therefore are the biggest contributer to the "global warming" process. (China and other countries aren't vvery far behind).

Patrick Corcoran said...

First off, the majority of the U.S.'s energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and petroleum. When these are burned, heat, light and CO2 are released. Most of the country obtains energy by transfering this heat into diffrent forms of energy. Now the other side is that burning these fossil fuels emits a large amount of CO2 into the air. Data shows that in the last 70-60 years CO2 has increased by a large amount. Before the industrial revoultion our atomosphere only contained 280 parts of CO2 per million, and then by the late 1950's it contained 315. Now our atmosphere is at 380 parts per million and rising. Data also shows that in the same time frame, the average survice temperature has increased. Our world's average survice has already gone up by almost 1 degree Celsius and is still rising. Already ice is melting, water is rising and seasons are changing. It is clear that the increase in CO2 emmisions must have some relevance to the change in temperature. Plus it is known that the molecular structure of CO2 plays a part in the increase in survice temperature. That is why the U.S. must decrease it's burning of the fossil fuels. By burning them, we are releasing a large amount of CO2 into the which is causing in increase in survice temperature.