Due to the burning of fossil fuels and other types of burnings, such as the burn
ID: 258247 • Letter: D
Question
Due to the burning of fossil fuels and other types of burnings, such as the burning of rain forests in equatorial regions, tremendous amounts of CO2 have been released into the atmosphere. This CO2 accumulates in the atmosphere, where it absorbs a great deal more of the sun’s energy than the atmosphere should normally absorb.
Warming of the atmosphere due to the buildup of CO2 creates the “greenhouse” effect, which causes the temperature of Earth to rise much more than it should. This leads to global warming. The results of global warming are predicted to be catastrophic for Earth. Sea levels will rise, polar ice caps will melt, shorelines will recede—all of which will cause massive disruptions of agriculture and habitable
areas on Earth.
Many people hope that by planting more large plants such as trees, we will mitigate the effects of global warming. However, another type of pollution is destroying the ozone layer of the atmosphere. Destruction of the ozone layer could potentially seriously damage plants and therefore cancel out the positive effects of planting trees.
How would destruction of the ozone layer specifically damage plants? Do you think that this damage will (1) totally wipe out the positive effects of planting large numbers of trees, (2) partially wipe out the positive effects of planting trees, or (3) not wipe out the positive effects of planting trees?
1Briefly explain why planting trees would mitigate the effects of global warming.
2.conduct some research of the scientific and popular media to discover the primary result of destroying the ozone layer.
3.Explain the relationship of various wavelengths of light to the functions of chlorophylls, carotenoids, and flavonoids.
4?Discuss the positive effects of planting trees versus the negative effects of ozone depletion.
5.How serious are the effects of ozone depletion in counteracting the positive effects of planting trees?
Explanation / Answer
1.
Plants play an important an important role in climate change. The destruction and degradation of forests contributes to the problem through the release of CO2. But the planting of new forests can help mitigate against climate change by removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Combined with the sun's energy, the captured carbon is converted into trunks, branches, roots and leaves via the process of photosynthesis. It is stored in this "biomass" until being returned back into the atmosphere, whether through natural processes or human interference, thus completing the carbon cycle. Under certain conditions plantations can grow relatively fast, thus absorbing CO2 at higher rates than natural forests. In the absence of major disturbances, newly planted or regenerating forests can continue to absorb carbon for 20–50 years or more.
2.
Reduced ozone levels as a result of ozone depletion mean less protection from the sun’s rays and more exposure to UVB radiation at the Earth’s surface. ozone layer is deteriorating due to the release of pollution containing the chemicals chlorine and bromine. Such deterioration allows large amounts of ultraviolet B rays to reach Earth, which can cause skin cancer and cataracts in humans and harm animals as well. Extra ultraviolet B radiation reaching Earth also inhibits the reproductive cycle of phytoplankton, single-celled organisms such as algae that make up the bottom rung of the food chain. Biologists fear that reductions in phytoplankton populations will in turn lower the populations of other animals. Researchers also have documented changes in the reproductive rates of young fish, shrimp, and crabs as well as frogs and salamanders exposed to excess ultraviolet B.