Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect Essay -- Environmental Global

Global Warming and the Greenhouse EffectThe greenhouse movement, in environmental science, is a popular term for the effect that indisputable variable constituents of the Earths lower atmosphere have on surface temperatures. It has been known since 1896 that Earth has been limber uped by a blanket of gasses (This is called the greenhouse effect.). The gases--water vapor (H2O), carbon copy dioxide (carbonic acid gas), and methane (CH4)--keep ground temperatures at a global average of about 15 degrees C (60 degrees F). Without them the average would be below the freezing point of water. The gases have this effect because as incoming solar radiation strikes the surface, the surface gives off infrared radiation, or heat, that the gases trap and keep near ground level. The effect is comparable to the trend in which a greenhouse traps heat, hence the term. Environmental scientists are concerned that changes in the variable contents of the atmosphere--particularly changes caused by hum an activities--could cause the Earths surface to warm up to a dangerous degree. Since 1850 there has been a mean grind away in global temperature of approximately 1? C (approximately 1.8? F). Even a restrain rise in average surface temperature might lead to at least partial melting of the polar icecaps and hence a major rise in sea level, along with other severe environmental disturbances. An example of a runaway greenhouse effect is Earths near-twin planetary neighbor Venus. Because of Venuss thick CO2 atmosphere, the planets clo...