The Intensification of the Greenhouse Effect and Mitigation Efforts
Human activities and the Greenhouse Effect
The intensification of the greenhouse effect through increasing levels of greenhouse gases is of concern. Human activities have raised greenhouse gas concentrations, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and leading to climatic changes. Mitigation efforts aim to reduce and stabilize these emissions to limit further global temperature increases and climatic disturbances.
Explanation
The question concerns the issue of climate change, specifically regarding the increase in the greenhouse effect due to human activities. The correct answer to the question is a) Intensification of the greenhouse effect through increasing levels of greenhouse gases.
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that is crucial for maintaining temperatures on Earth that can support life. However, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, have led to an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide and methane, from pre-industrial levels of 280 parts per million to over 400 parts per million.
This change in concentration has intensified the greenhouse effect, resulting in a rise in global temperatures and contributing to other climatic changes such as more intense storms, changes in precipitation patterns, loss of biodiversity, and rising sea levels.
Mitigation efforts are discussed as measures to reduce and stabilize the carbon emissions responsible for the increase in greenhouse gases. However, even if greenhouse gas concentrations were to cease immediately, there is a projected continued increase in global temperature due to the lag between attaining concentration levels and the consequent trapping of heat energy.
The mitigation agenda is thus crucial for limiting greenhouse gas growth and combating the severe impacts of climate change on the planet and human society.
It is not the greenhouse effect itself that is of concern but the __________ of it through increasing levels of greenhouse gases.a) Intensification
b) Mitigation
c) Diminution
d) Escalation
Final answer:
The a. intensification of the greenhouse effect through increasing levels of greenhouse gases is of concern. Human activities have raised greenhouse gas concentrations, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and leading to climatic changes. Mitigation efforts aim to reduce and stabilize these emissions to limit further global temperature increases and climatic disturbances.