Greenhouse+effect

The Greenhouse  Effect Kori Wallace Michaela Brady ** ** What is the Greenhouse Effect? ** The Greenhouse Effect refers to a rise in Earth's temperature due to gases in the atmosphere trapping energy from the sun. Gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, (commonly referred to as **greenhouse gases**), are responsible for maintaining these high temperatures. If it weren't for these gases, heat from the sun would escape back into space and Earth's average temperature would be about sixty degrees cooler, temperatures at which most organisms would not be able to survive. **Why is it called the Greenhouse Effect?** In an actual greenhouse, energy from the sun is allowed into the greenhouse through glass panes, and is then trapped inside. This trapped heat circulates within the greenhouse and provides a more plentiful amount of energy for plants to thrive off of. The idea is to attract heat and capture it there so that plants grow healthier. Greenhouse gases behave much like glass panes in a greenhouse. Sunlight enters Earth's atmosphere, passing through the ozone layer and the blanket of greenhouse gases. Then, it is absorbed by Earth's surface, land, water, and biosphere, and is released back into the atmosphere. Most of the energy is kept in our atmosphere because of the influence of the greenhouse gases, which, in turn, causes our world to heat up.
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**How does the Greenhouse Effect work?** Below is a diagram to help visualize how the Greenhouse Effect works. As you can see, the **purple arrows** demonstrate energy in the form of sunlight leaving the sun and entering the Earth's atmosphere. The **red arrows** show what happens to the energy that reaches the Earth when it is transferred into heat.



**What role do humans play?** Human life disrupts the natural process by accelerating it and emitting more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than are necessary to warm the planet at an ideal temperature.


 * **Burning natural gas, coal and oil** —including gasoline for [[image:http://www.myclimatechange.net/UserImage/3/Definition/GreenhouseEffect.jpg width="546" height="319" align="right"]] automobile engines—raises the le v el o f carbon d i <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">oxide in the atmosp here.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Some farming practices and land-use changes** increase the levels of methane and nitrous oxide.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Many factories produce long-lasting industrial gases** that do not occur naturally, yet co ntribute significantly to the enhanced greenhouse effect and “global warming” that is currently under way.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Deforestation** also contributes to global warming. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place, which helps to create the optimal balance of gases in the atmosphere. As more forests are logged for timber or cut down to make way for farming, however, there are fewer trees to perform this critical func tion.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**Population growth** is another factor in global warming, because as more people use fossil fuels for heat, transportation and manufacturing the level of greenhouse gases continues to increase. As more farming occurs to feed millions of new people, more greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere.

<span style="color: #56c417; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Works Cited: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/greenhouse.html http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/esi/2001/Princeton/Project/schaperdoth/greenhouse/grhseff.htm http://www.businessclimatechampions.org/climate-change-explained.php

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 * 1) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The phenomenon whereby the earth's atmosphere traps solar radiation, caused by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane that allow incoming sunlight to pass through but absorb heat radiated back from the earth's surface.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">A similar retention of solar radiation, as by another planet or in a solar panel.

The general concepts found in this section include the following: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">** works cited: **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The earth's "greenhouse effect" is what makes this planet suitable for life as we know it.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The earth's atmosphere contains trace gases, some of which absorb heat. These gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide) are referred to as "greenhouse gases."
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Albedo has an important influence on the earth's temperature.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Greenhouses are structures designed to retain heat.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The heat-trapping ability of a greenhouse is influenced by a number of factors including the transparency of the greenhouse cover, color of the surfaces inside the greenhouse, and type of surfaces inside.
 * ucar.com **
 * about.com **