Like the glass in a greenhouse, certain gases that occur naturally in the atmosphere tend to trap the sun’s heat. This natural “greenhouse effect” helps keep the Earth’s average temperature at a comfortable 59 Fahrenheit. Without these greenhouse gases, the Earth would be about 0 F, like a deep- frozen snowball. The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human’s are changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere by the buildup of greenhouse gases—which mostly is carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gases trap heat which is well known.
But it is uncertain about how the earth’s climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Energy from the sun makes the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth; in return. Greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the energy that leaves, botteling heat like the glass panels of a greenhouse. Without this natural “greenhouse effect,” temperatures would be alot lower than they are now, and life like today would not work. Instead, thanks to greenhouse gases, the earth’s average temperature is better, 60F.
But, problems may happen when the amount of greenhouse gases increases. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, great amounts of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 30%, methane concentrations have almost doubled, and nitrous oxide concentrations have risen about 15%. These increases have made the heat-trapping worse in the earth’s atmosphere. Sulfate aerosols, a common air pollutant, cool the atmosphere by reflecting light back into space, but, sulfates do not live long in the atmosphere.
Why are greenhouse gas concentrations increasing? Most scientists believe that the burning of fossil fuels and other human’s doings is the main reason for the increased rate of carbon dioxide. What has changed in the last few hundred years is the constante release of carbon dioxide by human’s. Energy burned to run cars and trucks, heat homes and businesses, and power factories is one of the main reasons for about 80% of todays carbon dioxide problem, about 25% of U. S. thane emissions, and about 20% of global nitrous oxide emissions.
More, deforestation, landfills, industrial production, and mining also have a big part in it to but during deforestation plants and trees are being destroyed which causes more co2 to form because the plant and trees breath in co2 and exhale oxygen and with fewer and fewer trees and plants co2 would keep climbing and oxygen would decrease . In 1994, the United States was responsible for about one-fifth of total global greenhouse gases.
Predicting future problems is hard, because it depends on demographic, economic, technological, policy, and institutional developments. Many problem scenarios have been made based on different projections of these scenarios. For example, by 2100, carbon dioxide concentrations are predictied to be significantly higher than today’s levels. Global surface temperatures have increased 0. 6-1. 2F since the late 19th century. The 10 warmest years in this century all have happened in the last 15 years.
Out of all those years, 1998 was the warmest year on record. The snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere and floating ice in the Arctic Ocean has decreased because of the heat. Globally, sea level has risen 4-10 inches over the past century. Worldwide precipitation over land has increased about one percent. The frequency of extreme rainfall has increased throughout alot of the United States. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change.
Scientists expect that the average global surface temperature could rise 1. 6-6. 3F by 2100. Evaporation will increase as the earth’s temperature rises, which will raise average global precipitation. Soil moisture is likely to lower in many places, and hard rainstorms are likely to become more frequent. Sea level is likely to rise about two feet along most of the U. S. coast. Predictions of climate change for some areas are much less reliable than global ones, and it is unclear whether regional climate will become more unstable.
