Earth is known to be 4.5 billion years old, and life first appeared about 1 billion years ago. Earth has approximately 6,740,000,000 human inhabitants as of November 2008. As humans have gained intelligence and technology, the earth has changed significantly from how it was originally created.
The earth is made up of four components, the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. They all interact to make the earth the way it is. However due to new technologies and human impact, some of these components have changed, in both positive and negative ways.
The atmosphere has taken its toll from human activity. The atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the earth. It is made up of greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and others; these gases retain the earth’s warmth.
Since the industrial revolution, which occurred in the late 18th and early 19th century, the level of greenhouse gases have began to rise. Since 1970 the rise of greenhouse gas emissions has become dramatic, and so has the rise of the average global temperature.
The industrial revolution saw major changes and advancements in agriculture, manufacturing, production, mining, and transportation. Since then they have continued to grow and change over time, and they are the main producers of fossil fuels. The earth produces roughly 27,245,758 thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The main sources of air pollution are coal, crude oil (used in cars) and natural gas. The burning of these creates fossil fuels and pollutants to the atmosphere.
The rise of greenhouse gases and global temperature has lead to a process called global warming. The earth temperatures have risen at an average of 0.6°C per year since 1940. Expected results of global warming are sea levels rising and polar ice caps melting, more humidity affecting the distribution of disease carrying insects and parasites, more people suffering from the effects of drought, flooding and...