Global Warming and Climate Change Essay -- The Greenhouse Effect

Global warming and the greenhouse effect are issues discussed by scientists all the time. A natural process that keeps earths temperature at a livable rate is called the greenhouse effect. The energy from the sun warms up the earth when the rays from the sun are absorbed by greenhouse gasses. The gasses then become trapped in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide are the most common greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gases cause the radiant heat of the sun to be trapped in the Earths lower atmosphere which causes global warming. If there weren’t any greenhouse gasses, the earth would be really cold due to very little sun rays being absorbed on the earth. Global warming can and will lead to several problems that affect the environment in which we humans live in. These problems can lead to warmer temperatures all around the world, it can endanger animals and the wildlife, and it can lead to widespread flooding from the glaciers melting. Here are a few more future effects that I will discuss in more detail about. Damage to human health, Severe stress on forests, wetlands, and other natural habitats, how fish will be affected. Global warming is a serious problem that will affect our generation when we are older. In talking about global warming, we need to learn what causes the greenhouse effect. Rays from the sun are taken up and absorbed by water vapor that is natural in the atmosphere. The United States emits the largest man made greenhouse gases in the world. As Americans we must realize the responsibility to reduce the emissions. (Gore, Albert) Water Vapor is eighty percent of greenhouse warming. The last twenty percent results from other gases that are in very little amounts. A huge absorber of the sun’s heat rays is carbon dioxide. Us as humans release a lot of carbon dioxide. When fossil fuels are burned, they release big amounts of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is on the increase in our atmosphere due to car emissions. Approximately eighty percent of CO2 increases because of man’s use of fossil fuels. When there is more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere the more sun rays are absorbed. In result to this happening this will cause the earth and the earths atmosphere to war m. When the earth is warming, water temperatures will start to get warmer. Oceans and lakes will get warmer in result f... ... areas will get more precipitation and storms while others will get nothing and have serious droughts. The warming of a few degrees will cause glaciers to melt and sea ice to melt leading to a lot of damage. This damage would lead the levels of the oceans to rise and would cause damage to coastal cities and islands. This would cause serious problems for the different species living in the oceans and could some disease. Especially diseases caused by mosquitoes which love warm and humid climates. There are many ideas and solutions to stop global warming. It is very difficult to reverse this process once it is started. If we want to live like we are now and have been we have to stop this process. Emissions of fossil fuels by humans is a big factor of global warming. The reason being is because of the amount of carbon dioxide released from the fossil fuels. Controlling these emissions is one huge step of many steps required to slow down and stop global warming. If global warming is n ot controlled, all the problems that have been mentioned, along with other problems will disrupt the living patterns in which we live.