GLOBAL WARMING

The Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is a natural occurrence that maintains Earth's average temperature at approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit

Under normal conditions some of the sun's heat is radiated back into space The 'Greenhouse Effect' occurs when heat is trapped in the atmosphere by gases

The greenhouse effect is a necessary phenomenon that keeps all Earth's heat from escaping to the outer atmosphere. Without the natural greenhouse effect it is certain that life on Earth would be difficult to sustain.

Temperatures on Earth would be much lower than they are now, and the existence of life on this planet would not be possible. The global average temperature would drop precipitously 33 degrees from its current 15 to 18C. The Earth would become an ice planet

However, too many greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere could increase the greenhouse effect.

This could result in an increase in mean global temperatures as well as changes in precipitation patterns

1.The Earth's atmosphere, a thin blanket of gases, protects the planet from the harshest of the sun's ultraviolet radiation.
2. The atmosphere, by trapping the Earth's warmth, keeps rivers and oceans from freezing. 3. Carbon dioxide and water vapor are the most important gases in creating the insulating or "greenhouse effect" of the atmosphere

What Are Greenhouse Gases? Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Certain human activities, however, add to the levels of most of these naturally occurring gases:

Carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), and wood and wood products are burned. Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from the decomposition of organic wastes in municipal solid waste landfills, and the raising of livestock. Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels.

Very powerful greenhouse gases that are not naturally occurring include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), which are generated in a variety of industrial processes.

>Each greenhouse gas differs in its ability to absorb heat in the atmosphere. > HFCs and PFCs are the most heatabsorbent. Methane traps over 21 times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide absorbs 270 times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide. >Often, estimates of greenhouse gas emissions are presented in units of millions of metric tons of carbon equivalents (MMTCE), which weights each gas by its GWP value, or Global Warming Potential.

The principal greenhouse gases are:

Carbon dioxide-main gas (CO2) Water vapor (H2O) Methane (CH4) Nitrous oxide (N2O) Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Ozone (O3 )

The amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere in the next 30 years is expected to double or triple. The number of cars in operation around the world will double by the year 2030

Over the last 400,000 years the Earth's climate has been unstable, with very significant temperature changes, going from a warm climate to an ice age in as rapidly as a few decades. These rapid changes suggest that climate may be quite sensitive to internal or external climate forcing and feedbacks. As can be seen from the blue curve, temperatures have been less variable during the last 10 000 years. Based on the incomplete evidence available, it is unlikely that global mean temperatures have varied by more than 1C in a century during this period. The information presented on this graph indicates a strong correlation between carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere and temperature. A possible scenario: anthropogenic emissions of GHGs could bring the climate to a state where it reverts to the highly unstable climate of the pre-ice age period. Rather than a linear evolution, the climate follows a non-linear path with sudden and dramatic surprises when GHG levels reach an as-yet unknown trigger point.

2006 Global Temperatures

January-December Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
2005 (+0.97C/1.75F) 2003 (+0.48C/0.86F) 2005 (+0.61C/1.10F)

Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean

+0.78C (+1.40F) +0.45C (+0.81F) +0.54C (+0.97F)

4th warmest 5th warmest 5th warmest

Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean

+0.87C (+1.57F) +0.49C (+0.88F) +0.63C (+1.13F)

3rd warmest 4th warmest 2nd warmest

2005 (+1.02C/1.84F) 2005 (+0.54C/0.97F) 2005 (+0.72C/1.30F)

Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean +0.54C (+0.97F) +0.43C (+0.77F) +0.44C (+0.79F) 6th warmest 5th warmest 6th warmest

2005 (+0.83C/1.49F) 1998 (+0.50C/0.90F) 1998 (+0.54C/0.97F)

The global annual temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces in 2006 was +0.54C (+0.97F) above average, ranking 5th warmest in the period of record. Globally averaged land temperatures were +0.78C (+1.40F) and ocean temperatures +0.45C (+0.81F) above average, ranking 4th and 5th warmest, respectively. The land and ocean surface temperatures for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere ranked 2nd and 6th warmest, respectively.

Temperature Trends During the past century, global surface temperatures have increased at a rate near 0.06C/decade (0.11F/decade) but this trend has increased to a rate approximately 0.18C/decade (0.32F/decade) during the past 25 to 30 years. There have been two sustained periods of warming, one beginning around 1910 and ending around 1945, and the most recent beginning about 1976. Temperatures during the latter period of warming have increased at a rate comparable to the rates of warming projected to occur during the next century with continued increases of anthropogenic greenhouse gases.