What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases in the atmosphere (the air
around the Earth) trap radiation. This effect makes the planet warmer, like a
greenhouse keeps its inside temperature warmer.

There are 2 different ways these gases are made... ]

The natural greenhouse effect –

The atmosphere has a number of gases, often in tiny amounts, which trap the
heat given out by the Earth.

To make sure that the Earth’s temperature remains constant, the balance of
these gases in the atmosphere must not be upset.

The greenhouse gases are very important and are mainly ...

water vapour- occurs naturally in the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide -produced naturally when people and animals

breathe. Plants and trees absorb carbon
dioxide to live. Volcanoes also produce this
gas. Carbon dioxide is not the same as carbon
monoxide

methane -comes from cattle as they digest their food. The gas
also comes from fields where rice is grown.

nitrous oxide -when plants die and rot, nitrous oxide is

produced.
ozone -occurs naturally in the atmosphere.
The enhanced greenhouse effect
Some of the activities of man also produce greenhouse gases.These gases keep
increasing in the atmosphere. The balance of the greenhouse gases changes and
this has effects on the whole of the planet.

Burning fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas –

releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Cutting down and burning trees also produces a
lot of carbon dioxide.
A group of greenhouse gases called the
Chlorofluorocarbons(cfcs) have been used in aerosols,
hairspray cans, fridges and in making
foam plastics. They are found in small amounts in the atmosphere.
They are dangerous greenhouse gases because small amounts can
trap large amounts of heat causing the earths temperature to rise.

Climate change
Climate change is the gradual rising of the earths temperature .

Global temperatures have risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius in the last 130 years. 
This rise in global temperatures leads to huge impacts on a wide range of
climate related factors. 

Levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide gases are rising, mainly as
a result of human activities.  Carbon dioxide is being dumped in the atmosphere
at an alarming rate.  Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been
pumping out huge quantities of carbon dioxide, raising carbon dioxide
concentrations by 30%.  The burning of fossil fuels is partly responsible for this
huge increase. 

Also methane levels in the atmosphere have increased by 145% since the
Industrial Revolution.  This increase is a result of gas produced by livestock and
rice fields.

Effects of climate change

Rise in sea levels
One impact of climate change would be a rise in global sea levels.  If the heat
from the sun cannot escape through the earth's atmosphere then the ice at the
north and south poles could melt.  This could have a huge effect on the low
lying areas of the world.

An increase in disease levels

 The range of pests could also change if the climate does.  This could bring
about an increase in disease levels. 

 Scientists believe that if the temperature increased by 3-5 degrees Celsius, the
number of people exposed to malaria (caught from the mosquito) could increase
from 45% to 60% of the world's population.  This could lead to an extra 50-80
million cases of malaria a year!

A change in ecosystems
Ecosystems could be affected by a change in temperature.   It has been
predicted that an increase in temperature would affect species composition. 
Scientists also believe that up to two thirds of the world's forests would undergo
major changes.  Scientists believe that deserts would become hotter, and the
transformation of habitable land into dessert would increase and become harder
to reverse.

Within the UK
 The UK will be affected by most of the expected global impacts of climate
change.  Scientists believe that there will be significant impacts on soils,
wildlife, water resources and agriculture in the south of England.

 Detailed studies are undertaken in the UK to see how climate change is

affecting humans, agriculture, vegetation, the ozone layer, hydrology,
invertebrates, marine life, forests, birds, and the freshwater environment.  

 How do i slow climate change down?

Who is it up too to slow it down ?
 Ultimately it is up to each of us, as individuals and families, to take action to slow
down and eventually reverse global warming through everyday awareness of our
energy use, and attention to ways we can conserve electricity and minimize fossil fuel
usage.

What we can do

The goal is to bring global warming under control by decreasing the release of carbon
dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
We can contribute to this global cause with personal actions. Our individual efforts
are especially significant in countries like the US and Canada, where individuals
release over 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per person every year.

We can help immediately by becoming more energy efficient. Reducing our use of oil,
gasoline and coal also sets an example for others to follow.

We can ...

-Recycling= lets companies use less fossil fuels to get the material to make new
things.

-Use public transport or walk- this releases less c02 emissions into the air because
less carbon dioxide is used to powers vehicles

-Use electric cars- This produces even less co2 emissions than taking the bus.

-Eat locally produced food =this stops co2 emission being made by vehicles
transporting food from around the world.

Is it really happening?

Evidence

Sea level rise

Global sea level rose about 17 centimetres (6.7

inches) in the last century. The rate in the last
decade, however, is nearly double that of the last
century.
Global temperature rise

All three major global surface temperature

reconstructions show that Earth has warmed since
1880. Most of this warming has occurred since the
1970s, with the 20 warmest years having occurred
since 1981 and with all 10 of the warmest years
occurring in the past 12 years.

Warming oceans

The oceans have absorbed much of this increased

heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of
ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees
Fahrenheit since 1969.

Shrinking ice sheets

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have

decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity
Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland
lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometres of ice per year
between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost about
152 cubic kilometres of ice between 2002 and 2005.
 Declining Arctic sea ice

Both the perimeter and thickness of Arctic sea ice

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has declined rapidly over the last several decades.

Extreme events

The number of record high temperature events in

the United States has been increasing, while the
number of record low temperature events has been
decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also
witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall
events.

Ocean acidification

The carbon dioxide content of the Earth’s oceans

has been increasing since 1750, and is currently
increasing about 2 billion tons per year. This has
increased ocean acidity by about 30 percent.

It is because of these statistics that I believe that global warming is happening. I

believe that there is a very real possibility that future generations, and possibly
our own , will be faced with the problems above escalating drastically ,making
surviving harder unless action is taken to reverse the human races effects on the
atmosphere today.

By Rebecca Jones.