Free Essays on Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse Effect On a bright, cool day, most people notice the sun’s rays as feeling good on their skin. By nature, many of us even try to stay on the sunny side of the street while walking. The sun is 93 million miles away from earth and its energy travels to us in moving waves called radiation. The energy becomes heat, light and other energy too. Visible sunlight allows us to see the world around us, but there is invisible sunlight, too. These rays can’t be seen, but some can be felt as heat. They are called ultraviolet rays, and they are what changes the appearance of the skin, like wrinkles and even cancer. I discovered a blanket of gases known as the atmosphere surrounding our planet. It is what provides us with the air we breathe, and it protects us from the full blast of the sun’s radiation. Way up there in the part of the atmosphere called the stratosphere, a layer of gas called ozone, filters out most of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays. This happens about five miles to 25 miles above the surface of Earth (Bright 14-15). Only about one- millionth of our atmosphere is made up of ozone. But it has an important job. Ozone can absorb the part of the sunlight called ultraviolet radiation. Some ultraviolet radiation still gets through, but not enough to do serious damage to Earth. Because if it got through, life as we know it would be impossible. But there is a serious problem in the ozone layer. Each year, a large hole appears in it. It isn’t an actual hole, like a hole in a pocket, but a layer getting thinner as it shows up on the satellite pictures. The â€Å"hole† is right over Antarctica, covering an area about the size of the United Stat... Free Essays on Greenhouse Effect Free Essays on Greenhouse Effect Greenhouse Effect On a bright, cool day, most people notice the sun’s rays as feeling good on their skin. By nature, many of us even try to stay on the sunny side of the street while walking. The sun is 93 million miles away from earth and its energy travels to us in moving waves called radiation. The energy becomes heat, light and other energy too. Visible sunlight allows us to see the world around us, but there is invisible sunlight, too. These rays can’t be seen, but some can be felt as heat. They are called ultraviolet rays, and they are what changes the appearance of the skin, like wrinkles and even cancer. I discovered a blanket of gases known as the atmosphere surrounding our planet. It is what provides us with the air we breathe, and it protects us from the full blast of the sun’s radiation. Way up there in the part of the atmosphere called the stratosphere, a layer of gas called ozone, filters out most of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays. This happens about five miles to 25 miles above the surface of Earth (Bright 14-15). Only about one- millionth of our atmosphere is made up of ozone. But it has an important job. Ozone can absorb the part of the sunlight called ultraviolet radiation. Some ultraviolet radiation still gets through, but not enough to do serious damage to Earth. Because if it got through, life as we know it would be impossible. But there is a serious problem in the ozone layer. Each year, a large hole appears in it. It isn’t an actual hole, like a hole in a pocket, but a layer getting thinner as it shows up on the satellite pictures. The â€Å"hole† is right over Antarctica, covering an area about the size of the United Stat... Free Essays on Greenhouse Effect The greenhouse effect occurs when gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and CFCs trap heat in the atmosphere by acting as a pane of glass in a car.  ³The glass ² lets the sun light in to make heat but when the heat tries to get out the gases absorb the heat. Holding this heat in causes heat waves, droughts and climate changes which could alter our way of living. The main gases that cause the greenhouse effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane which comes mainly from animal manure. Other gases like nitrogen oxide and man made gases called chloroflurocarbons get caught in the atmosphere as well. The decay of animals and respiration are two main but natural sources of carbon dioxide. In my opinion we people of the whole world should try and slow down the emmission of greenhouse gases and/or find ways to balance the gases so the climate doesn't change so rapidly. If it did we would be forced to adapt to the new climate that we brought upon our selves. If we had a international cooperation to put a damper on the production of chloroflurocarbons and slowed down the use of fossil fuels it would dramatically slow down the process of "global warming." Over the last 100 years the global temperatures have been increasing slowly but steadily. Since 1980 the temperature has risen 0.2 degrees C (0.4 degrees F ) each decade. Scientists predict that if we continue putting the same amount of gas into the atmosphere by the year 2030 the temperature will be rising as much as 0.5 degrees C (0.9 degrees F ) or more per decade. Over all the global temperature could rise anywhere from 5 to 9 degrees over the next fifty years. If the temperatures do rise as predicted several things could happen. The increases of temperature could alter the growth of crops in areas near the equator due to insufficient rain and heat. This could really hurt countries that rely on imported food. With the high temperatures the polar ice caps could m... Free Essays on Greenhouse Effect The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the build up of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Energy from the sun drives the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’s surface. This causes the earth to radiate the energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases (water vapor carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat similar to the glass panels of a greenhouse. Without this natural â€Å"greenhouse effect,† temperatures would be much lower than they are now, and life as known today would not be possible. Instead, thanks to greenhouse gases, the earth’s average temperature is a more hospitable 24 C. However, problems may arise when the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases increases. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 30%. Methane concentrations have more than doubled, and nitrous oxide concentrations have risen by about 15%. Due to the concentrations increasing the heat-trapping capability of the earth’s atmosphere is enhanced. Greenhouse gas concentrations are increasing. Scientists generally believe that the combustion of fossil fuels and other human activities are the primary reason for the increased concentration of carbon dioxide. Plant respiration and the decomposition of organic matter release more than 10 times the CO released by human activities; but these releases have always been in balance with the carbon dioxide absorbed by plant photosynthesis. What has changed in the last few hundred years is the additional release of carbon dioxide by human activities. Energy burned to run cars and trucks, heat homes and businesses are responsible for about 80% of society's carbon dioxide emissions and about 20% of global nitrous oxide ...