An Introduction to Global Warming

There are many causes of global warming and I will mention some of them in this essay and then I am going to write my opinion about this problem.

Carbon Dioxide from Power Plants :
Natural gas gives off 50% of the carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, released by coal and 25% less carbon dioxide than oil, for the same amount of energy produced.

Carbon Dioxide Emitted from Cars :
If car manufacturers were to increase their fleets' average gas mileage about 3 miles per gallon, the USA could save a million barrels of oil every day, while US drivers would save $25 billion in fuel costs annually.

Carbon Dioxide from Airplanes :
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that aviation causes 3.5 percent of global warming, and that the figure could rise to 15 percent by 2050.

Carbon Dioxide from Buildings :
Buildings structure account for about 12% of carbon dioxide emissions.

Methane :
While carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, methane is the second most important.

Nitrous oxide :
Nitrous oxide is broken down in the atmosphere by chemical reactions that involve sunlight.

Deforestation :
After carbon emissions caused by humans, deforestation is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

City Gridlock :
In 1996 according to an annual study by traffic engineers [as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle December 10, 1996] from Texas A and M University, it was found that drivers in Los Angeles and New York City alone wasted 600 million gallons of gas annually while just sitting in traffic.

Carbon in Atmosphere and Ocean :
The atmosphere contains about 750 billion tons of carbon, while 1020 billion tons are dissolved in the surface layers of the world's ocean.

Permafrost:
The hard permafrost on which is built homes and other buildings, can, with rising temperatures, turn into a soft material causing subsidence and damage to buildings, electric generating stations, pipelines and other structures.

Tundra :
About 50 billion tons of carbon are estimated to be held in a frozen state in the tundra, and now the tundra is beginning to become a source of carbon dioxide.

In my opinion, global warming is real but not due to greenhouse gases. The sun is going through its cycles as it always has. The earth has been colder than it is now and much warmer based on the ice core samples. In fact overall CO2 levels lag the temperature at a rate of about 400 years. The temperature rising and falling actually drives CO2 levels. The total CO2 levels contributed by man are small in comparison to what the volcanoes, animals, vegetation and the oceans produce. In fact using CO2 levels as an indicator that the planet is heating up is like saying that the leaves falling off the tree is bringing about winter.
I think we need to take better care of our planet. Air and water pollution need to be the focus but not this blind obsession with CO2 levels.