Reference no: EM13304825

Part A:

Go to the website: unfccc.int/ghg_data/ghg_data_unfccc/time_series_annex_i/items/3814.php and obtain information about the main sources of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Use a relevant graphical technique to represent the data and provide a short description of the data.

Part B: Go to a reliable website and obtain data on the top ten polluters in the world. Obtain information about the amount of GHG emissions over the last 3 years and the percentages of global emissions. Present the data in an appropriate graphical form and provide a short report of your findings.

Part C: Is global warming real? If so, what causes it?

In the last part of the 20th century, scientists developed the theory that the planet was warming and that the primary cause was the increasing amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), which are the product of burning oil, natural gas and coal (fossil fuels). Although many climatologists believe in what is commonly referred to as the greenhouse effect, many others do not subscribe to this theory. There are three critical questions that need to be answered in order to resolve the issue.

1. Is the earth warming?

2. If the planet is warming, is there a human cause or is it natural fluctuation?

3. If the planet is warming, is CO2 the cause?

File CO4-01a - is a file containing the monthly temperature anomalies from 1880 - 2009 collected by the National Climate Data Center (NCDC). Temperature anomalies are calculated by taking the deviations between the latest month's temperature reading and the average for each month. A positive anomaly indicates a month where the temperature is above the average. A negative anomaly indicates a month where the temperature is less than the average.

FileCO4-01b - contains the measurement of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. This data was collected from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

Use the information provided, and the appropriate techniques to determine if there is evidence of global warming, and if so, is CO2 the cause of it?

Part D:Files CO5 -02a lists the temperature anomalies from 1840 to 1940; CO5 -02b lists the data from 1941 to 1975; CO5 -02c lists the temperature anomalies from 1976 to 1977; and CO5 -02d lists the data from 1998 to 2009. Using these information, together with the CO2 data from Part B, report on your findings on the relationship between temperature anomalies over these period segments and CO2.