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Global Warming


Satellite photos show smoke from the smoldering fires that are rising into the air over the forest. The desire of developed countries for inexpensive meat and forest products is another major contributor to deforestation. The sale of the expensive tropical wood is another. Each year a land area the size of Belgium is deforested, resulting in the transfer from forests to the atmosphere of between one and three billion tons of carbon. If present trends in the release of CO2 to the atmosphere continue, the preindustrial level of CO2 will increase another 30% in 50 years, and then double by the year 2100. The remaining amounts of oil and gas are quite small, but the amount of coal that is subject to exploitation is essentially unlimited. Economics and policy on emission of greenhouse gases will govern how rapidly CO2 builds up before either humankind or nature acts to stabilize the atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases. .
             In addition to CO2, another 20 or so greenhouse gases have been identified. At present the most important are methane (CH4), man made chlorofluorocarbons CFC-11 and CFC-12, nitrous oxide (N2O), and ozone (O3) in the lower atmosphere. Taken together, these other greenhouse gases are responsible for at least as much global warming as is CO2, and perhaps more. At present methane is the most important of these gases, followed closely by CFC-12. .
             Methane is produced in flooded fields and waterlogged soils, in rice paddies, in the guts of cattle and other fauna, in landfills, and in coal seams. It is also released as a result of forest clearing, venting in association with oil production, and leakage from natural gas pipelines. Atmospheric methane concentration is now increasing at about 1% per year. CFC-12 is primarily used as the working fluid in refrigerators and air conditioners. CFC-11 is used mainly in plastic urethane foams. The CFC's in general are used in spray cans, forming plastic foams, and as solvents.


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