There has been recent turmoil in the scientific community due to the recent change in the world’s climate. Global warming has contributed to increase in the level of ocean level due to polar ice melting.
The major contributors of global warming are:-
Carbon Dioxide from Power Plants
In the year 2002 around 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions comes from the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. Coal accounts for 93 percent of the emissions from the electric utility industry.
Coal emits around 1.6 times as much carbon per unit of energy when burned as does natural gas and 1.2 times as much as oil. Coal contains about 80 percent more carbon per unit of energy than gas does, and oil contains about 40 percent more.
Natural gas gives off 50 percent of the carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, released by coal and 25 percent less carbon dioxide than oil, for the same amount of energy produced.
About 20 percent of U.S carbon dioxide emissions comes from the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engines of cars and light trucks (minivans, sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks, and jeeps).
Carbon Dioxide from Trucks
About another 13percent of U.S carbon dioxide emissions comes from trucks used mostly for commercial purposes.
Carbon Dioxide from Airplanes
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that aviation causes 3.5 percent of global warming, and that the figure could rise to 15 percent by 2050.
Carbon Dioxide from Buildings
Buildings structure account for about 12 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
Methane
While carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, methane is 2nd most important. Methane is more than 20 times as effective as CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane is derived from rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel production. Most of the world’s rice, and all of the rice in the United States, is grown on flooded fields. When fields are flooded, under anaerobic conditions organic matter in the soil decomposes, releasing CH4 to the atmosphere, mainly through the rice plants.
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a colorless, non-flammable gas also known as "laughing gas", and sometimes used as an anesthetic. It is naturally produced by oceans and rainforests. Other sources of nitrous oxide include nylon and nitric acid production, fertilizers in agriculture, cars with catalytic converters and the burning of organic matter. Nitrous oxide is broken down in the atmosphere by sunlight.
Deforestation
Deforestation is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbn dioxide after carbon emissions caused by humans Deforestation is responsible for 25% of all carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, primarily by the burning and cutting of about 34 million acres of trees each year. The destroying of tropical forests and temperate forests is throwing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
City Gridlock
Cities are tolerating gridlock. Due to increase in the number of vehicles and the traffic congestion there is loss of millions of gallons of gasoline annually.
Carbon in Atmosphere and Ocean and volcanic activities.
The atmosphere contains about 750 billion tons of carbon, while 800 billion tons are dissolved in the surface layers of the world's oceans. There is continuous cycle of carbon dioxide emission from ocean and re absorption.
