From the graph in Vostok Ice Core Data on the left we can see that temperature has been increasing with the concentration of Carbon Dioxide since 10-20 thousands years ago. Where were humans then? Humans then only produce Carbon Dioxide through breathing and fire used to find our way around; there was no such thing such as machine which contributes a lot to the Carbon Dioxide emission. So it is possible that the global warming we are facing now is a trend? We can see from the graph that about 130 thousand years ago, there was a greater different in temperature relative to today. Perhaps concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere changes with a trend causing a trend in the change of global temperature.

Furthermore, from the graph on the right, we can see that Carbon Dioxide produce by man only contribute 0.117% to greenhouse effect. Water vapour, which many had ignore, is the one that contribute most to the greenhouse effect and of it man only contribute 0.001%. From the graph we can see that man only contribute 0.278% to greenhouse effect, the rest are naturally produce and thus we cannot control it. However from both graph we can see that Carbon Dioxide and other man-made gases do contribute to the greenhouse effect. To prevent the global temperature to further increase from the current natural trend, man should cut down emission of all these greenhouse gases. All these small contributions will result in a small decrease in temperature but is will still be of a significant to the environment. As we know, a small increase of 1 or 2 degree Celsius in global temperature will lead to ice caps melting which will further lead to many horrendous effects such as flooding, extinction of polar bears, etc. Thus a small decrease in global temperature due to man's effort will reduce or even better prevent all these. We can do so through small acts such as switching off the light, fans and most importantly air-condition where they are not in use. Minimise usage of air-condition and if used set it at a temperature of 24 or 25 degree Celsius. Try to use energy saving appliances. All these will reduce energy usage and reduce the amount of fuel burned and reduce the amount of Carbon Dioxide produce.

Quek Sheng Quan

Reference:http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html