Environmental Affects Of Global Warming
...are talked about by geologists
all the time. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the earth at temperatures that
are livable. Energy from the sun warms the earth when its heat rays are absorbed by greenhouse
gasses and become trapped in the atmosphere. Some of the most common greenhouse gasses are
water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. If there were no greenhouse gasses, very few rays
would be absorbed and the earth would be extremely cold. When too many rays are absorbed, the
earth's atmosphere starts to warm, which leads to global warming. Global warming can lead to
many problems that affects the environment in which we live.
In order to talk about global warming, we must first learn what causes the greenhouse
effect. A lot of the rays from the sun are absorbed by water vapor that is naturally in our
atmosphere. Water vapor accounts for "80 percent of natural greenhouse warming. The
remaining 20 percent is due to other gasses that are present in very small amounts" (Murck,
Skinner and Porter 488). Carbon dioxide is also a big absorber of the sun's heat rays. Humans
can cause a lot of carbon dioxide to be released. Every time we burn fossil fuels, we release more
carbon dioxide. Emissions from cars also increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere. If there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere more rays from the sun are
absorbed. This will cause the atmosphere and the earth's temperature to warm. The warming of
the earth will cause the oceans to become warmer. When they heat up, more water is evaporated,
causing more carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere. Once this process starts, it is
extremely hard to control. If the temperature keeps rising, more carbon dioxide will be released.
Another greenhouse gas is methane: "Methane absorbs infrared radiation 25 times more...
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