ABSTRACT

Article is concerned in greenhouse gases emissions and their effect to global

climate change. It provides illustration of the greenhouse effect mechanism based
on the Earth energy balance. It deals with the most important natural and artificial
greenhouse gases, identifies their possible sources and sinks, and provides
information about ways for assessment of their relative impact to environment. The
radiative forcing and the global warming potential are enlightened and their values
according the IPCC are discussed
Introduction
Global climate change, or more specifically global warming, is one of the
most serious environmental problems, which starts to attract the mankind attention
lately. Nevertheless, the public awareness of global warming as serious problem is
still negligible in comparison with other environmental threats (e.g. ozone
depletion and toxic pollution). Predominantly countries with traditionally
ecological policy, e.g. Scandinavian countries, and these feeling most threatened
by possible effects of global temperature rise pay an increased effort to
investigation of the problem.
The general principles and causes of global warming are well known now
qualitatively, but sort of quantitative understanding of relations between reasons
and consequences is necessary to develop, in order to provide environmental
policymakers with data to support their decisions. It means, that there are need to
cut off greenhouse gases emissions (and after the Kyoto summit it is also possible
to say there is will to cut them off), but it is also apparent, that it is not possible to
stop emitting green house gases completely. Therefore policymakers need to know
which gases are the most dangerous in order to optimize the emission policy, and
achieve decreasing of overall green house gasses emissions effect.
Greenhouse effect and global climate change
Solar radiation is the only important income to the Earth energy balance.
Wavelength of bulk of the radiation coming to the Earth belongs to visible or
ultraviolet part of spectrum. Atmosphere is almost completely transparent for these
wavelengths, so that nearly all radiation, which is not reflected by atmosphere,
penetrates directly to the surface, where its energy is being absorbed, heating the
Earth. Surface subsequently emits energy back to the universe, but as its
temperature is substantially lower than the one of Sun, wavelengths of that
radiation are much larger, belonging to the infrared part of spectrum.
Surprising fact is that the Earth surfaces energy output exceeds its direct
input from solar radiation by more than thirty percent. This would make Earths
temperature to decline continually, unless it used some trick. The matter of that
trick, called greenhouse effect, consists in Earths atmosphere ability to absorb a
significant amount of infrared radiation coming from surface (about 1/3) and to
reradiate it back to surface. A major part of absorption takes place at the lowest
atmosphere layer troposphere, and thus the net radiation output from planet,
measured at tropopause (thin atmospheric layer above troposphere), is substantially
lower than apparent output measured at surface. The energy balance of the Earth is
described on Figure1.
The major gaseous compounds of the atmosphere nitrogen, oxygen are
quite transparent for infrared radiation. Only the minor compounds, e.g. carbon
dioxide, water vapor, and artificial impurities have bonds with the rotational or
vibration energies corresponding to that of infrared photon, so that they can absorb
infrared radiation. These gases are called greenhouse gases (GHG). Although
occurring in little amounts, they are able to keep the Earths temperature at the
present level.
GREEN HOUSE EFFECT
The heating up of earth's atmosphere due to the trapping of intra-red ray.
(reflected from the earth's surface) by the carbon dioxide layer in the atmosphere is
called green-house effect.
The green-house effect in the atmosphere occurs due to the presence of a
blanket of carbon-dioxide gas in the atmosphere. This blanket of carbon dioxide
gas in the atmosphere allows the sunlight to come in freely but does not allow the
intra-red radiation reflected by the earth's surface to go out. It is just because the
sun light can come in freely but the intra-red rays cannot go out freely that the
temperature of earth's atmosphere is raised.
The rise in temperature produce gas in the by green-house effect on earth's
atmosphere depends on the amount of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere. In
other words, the proportion of carbon dioxide in atmosphere effects the
temperature of atmosphere. So, if the proportion of carbon dioxide gas in the
atmosphere increases, than the temperature of earth's atmosphere will also rise
further. The name "Green-house effect" comes from the fact that this effect is use
in horticulture for the up bringing of green plant's in small house made of glass
walls and glass root. The green walls and roofs of a green-house allows the sun-
light to come in freely but it does not allows the long wavelength infrared
radiations reflected by the soil, plants and other contents of green house to go out.
These trapped intra-red rays show their heating effect due to which the temperature
is raised inside the green house. Thus, even without an external supply of heat, the
temperature inside a green house is found to be higher than it is outside. Thus,
green house acts as a heat trap. Due to the presence of carbon dioxide, our
atmosphere acts like the glass rat of an ordinary horticultural green-house.
CAUSES OF GREEN-HOUSE EFFECT
The principal cause of Green-House effect is the increase in the quantity of
green house gases like CO2 in the atmosphere. The naturally occurring "Green
House gases", including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor,
keep ground temperature at a global average of 150 Celsius. without this natural
blanked earth's surface would be about 300 Celsius colder than it is today, making
the planet a freezing barren, lifeless place similar to Mars. The green house gases
keep the surface warm because as incoming solar radiation strikes earths, the
surface gives off infrared radiation or heat, that the gases temporarily trap and keep
near ground level.
The problem is that human activity may be making the green house gas
blanket "thicker" For example, burning tonsil fuel throws huge amounts of
CO
2
into the air, the destruction of forests allows carbon stored in the trees to
escape into the atmosphere and other activities such as raising cattle and planting
rice emit methane, nitrous oxide, and other green house gases. Until man kind
began burning fossil fuels, green house gases that occur naturally remained in
relative balance. But the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain ushered
in rapid industrialization that greatly increased man's assault on the ecology.
Greenhouse gasses

Greenhouse gasses are gasses are in the earths atmosphere that collects heat and
light from the sun. With too many greenhouse gasses in the air, the earths
atmosphere will trap too much heat and the earth will get too hot. As a result
people, animals, and plants would die because the heat would be too strong.
The Biggest Danger
This effect moderated temperature on the Earth long before humans began
changing the chemistry of the atmosphere. Like a well managed greenhouse, the
Earths surface remained warm, but not too hot, and thus allowed the growth of the
lush ecosystems we have inherited. The increase in heat-trapping gases in the
Earths atmosphere caused by human activity means the greenhouse effect could,
like a poorly managed greenhouse that is left closed up on a hot summer day,
overheat and do great damage to all the living creatures on the Earth.
The Main Causes: Human Emissions
The primary greenhouse gases include:
carbon dioxide
methane
nitrogen oxides, and
fluorinated gases
These make up only one percent or less of the Earths atmosphere, but they are
almost entirely responsible for all of its heat trapping capacity.
Greenhouse gas levels have increased dramatically since the start of the
industrial revolution. Based on scientific study of the Earths past, it is believed
that the atmosphere of the Earth contained about 280 parts per million (ppm) of
carbon dioxide before the industrial revolution began, and about .72 ppm of
methane. Now the Earths atmosphere has about 385 ppm of carbon dioxide and
about 1.8 ppm of methane.
Impacts of Different Greenhouse Gases
Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to global warming, and occurs in
relatively high concentrations. On the other hand, methane occurs in low
concentrations, but it has a much higher heat-trapping capacity than carbon dioxide
per unit volume. In fact, methane is 20 times more potent per unit as a greenhouse
gas than carbon dioxide measured on a 100 year scale, and 100 times more potent
measured on a 10 year scale. (Methane breaks down relatively quickly in the
atmosphere to simpler molecules.)
Other trace gases, like nitrogen oxides, and other human-created fluorinated gases
have heat trapping capacities 200-300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Humans Are Enhancing the Effect
We have initiated a new geological age: the Anthropocene the age created by
humans. We are brining this new geological era into being by radically increasing
the impact of the greenhouse effect.
Carbon levels have increased in the atmosphere as a result of our burning large
volumes of fossil fuels that have been trapped underground for millions of years.
We have cut down millions of acres of forest and every tree contains carbon, and
as a tree is burned or decomposes, that carbon is released into the atmosphere.
We have dangerously increased methane levels in the atmosphere as well.
Methane leaks from natural gas wells and coal mines. It is also created anytime
organic matter decays under oxygen-staved conditions. This occurs in rice paddies,
and in the guts of herbivorous animals. As humans have cleared forests to make
farms and expanded the number of cows, sheep, and goats, we have increased the
amount of methane in the atmosphere. The arctic tundra is also now melting, and
releasing enormous volumes of methane and carbon dioxide.
We Are Creating New Greenhouse Gases
Humans are now synthesizing more artificial nitrogen, for use as fertilizer, than all
of the natural nitrogen fixing process of all of the plants on Earth. In nature,
nitrogen is pulled from plants out of the atmosphere in a process called nitrogen
fixation. But when this artificial nitrogen is applied to farmland, some of it is
released into the atmosphere as nitrogen oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas that is
several hundred times more potent per unit volume than either carbon dioxide or
methane.
Another set of highly potent gases are fluorinated gases. These are accumulating
in our atmosphere. Fluorinated gases are a set of chemicals used as refrigerants, for
insulation, and for other industrial purposes.
Abrupt Climate Change Is Unpredictable
Dramatic weather changes arent gradual, according to a growing body of
evidence. Rather, the Earths climate maintains a specific range of temperature and
weather behavior for extended periods. Over time, pressure builds up from changes
in the chemistry of the atmosphere, or changes in solar radiation. Once enough
pressure has built, then the Earth enters a period of abrupt climate change.
Temperature increases will be extreme in some places and unnoticeable in
others. The human enhancement of the greenhouse effect on the planet Earth does
not mean that there will be an even heating of the continents and oceans. The net
effect, however, will be a potentially devastating disruption of weather, rainfall
patterns, storms, and sea level rise. If we do not stop adding greenhouse gases to
the atmosphere, we may face unfathomable consequences.
Global warming doing to the environment
Global warming is affecting many parts of the world. Global warming makes the
sea rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands. This is a
big problem for many of the plants, animals, and people on islands. The water
covers the plants and causes some of them to die. When they die, the animals lose
a source of food, along with their habitat. Although animals have a better ability to
adapt to what happens than plants do, they may die also. When the plants and
animals die, people lose two sources of food, plant food and animal food. They
may also lose their homes. As a result, they would also have to leave the area or
die. This would be called a break in the food chain, or a chain reaction, one thing
happening that leads to another and so on.
The oceans are affected by global warming in other ways, as well. Many things
that are happening to the ocean are linked to global warming. One thing that is
happening is warm water, caused from global warming, is harming and killing
algae in the ocean.
Algae is a producer that you can see floating on the top of the water. (A producer
is something that makes food for other animals through photosynthesis, like grass.)
This floating green algae is food to many consumers in the ocean. (A consumer is
something that eats the producers.) One kind of a consumer is small fish. There
are many others like crabs, some whales, and many other animals. Fewer algae is
a problem because there is less food for us and many animals in the sea.
Global warming is doing many things to people as well as animals and plants. It is
killing algae, but it is also destroying many huge forests. The pollution that causes
global warming is linked to acid rain. Acid rain gradually destroys almost
everything it touches. Global warming is also causing many more fires that wipe
out whole forests. This happens because global warming can make the earth very
hot. In forests, some plants and trees leaves can be so dry that they catch on fire.


THE IMPORTANCE OF CARBON DIOXIDE- THE GREEN HOUSE
EFFECT
Carbon dioxide present in small proportion (0.03%) is nonetheless a very
important member of the atmosphere. The proportion of (O2) is maintained by a
host of difference processes. The major consumers of CO2 from the atmosphere
are the green plants use the CO
2
to prepare their tool and the oceans dissolve the
CO2 in the form of carbonates. The major suppliers of CO2 to the atmosphere are
the volcanic earth processes and living organisms. The atmosphere gains
CO2 from the volcanoes which release this gas from the interior of the earth and
from organisms in the process of their respiration and decay. In this manner both
the atmosphere and the oceans continuously exchange CO2 with the rocks, plants
and higher organisms.
The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also performs another major role. The
earth receives light of different wavelengths from the sun. The Ozone in the upper
atmosphere absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation and lets the other
wavelengths pass through. However, some of the light incident on earth is reflected
back in the form of intra-red light that is light whose wavelength is greater than
that of red light. Carbon dioxide molecules have the ability to absorb the intra-red
radiation reflected from the earth. A blanket of CO2 can, therefore, trap intra-red
light in the atmosphere causing the atmosphere to heat up-This heating due to
trapped radiation is called the Green House effect.
A similar phenomena is observed inside an automobile. The sun's rays enter
the car through the glass window. Some of this light is reflected from the metal and
the upholstery inside the car in the form of intra-red light. The glass windows like
CO2 can trap this reflected intra-red light and cause the interior of the car to heat
up considerably. Infect the name green house is derived from a glass structure used
to cultivate putted plants in some countries water vapors and ozone also have the
ability to trap intra-red radiation and also some times referred to as green house
gases. However, water vapors is only found near the surface of the earth and ozone
only in the upper reaches of the atmosphere carbon dioxide which is much more
evenly distributed in the atmosphere and contributes to the green house effect to a
larger extent.
The proportion of carbon dioxide can therefore, effect the temperature of the
atmosphere. If this proportion increases, the temperature is liable to rise.
The atmosphere has been evolving over billions of years and will continue to
do so. However, in this century the atmosphere has received a large contribution
from man himself. In the course of modern human activities, huge quantities of
carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. This is done during the burning of
tonsil fuels.
It is estimated that man in burning fusel fuels is releasing 6000 million tones
of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. The cultivation of soil releases vast
quantities of carbon dioxide produced by bacteria to escape in to the air. These
agricultural pursuits release 2000 million tones more. A part from CO2 mans
industrial activities also release large quantities of noxious gases like nitrous oxide
(N2O), carbon monoxide and sulpher dioxide solid suspensions and dust are also
increasing in proportion.
Nature however, is extremely kind. It cleanses many of the pollutions with
rain. Green plants absorbs most of the excess CO2 from the atmosphere and give
back healthy oxygen in return. By destroying green plants and trees we destroy
those very agents that clean our atmosphere. Afforestation, that is, the replanting of
destroyed trees and forests is one solution for preserving a healthy proportion of
CO2 in the atmosphere.
Over the past hundred years we have released approximately 360000 million
tones of Cl2 and are continuing to do so at an increasing pace. As a result of this
large scale dumping, the proportion of CO2 has increased by 13 per cent. If the
green house effect is understood correctly, this would have increased the average
temperature of the earth by if. At the end of this century, the earths average
temperature would have increases by about 3.60 F. The full consequence of this
disastrous rise have jet to be understood.


GREEN- HOUSE EFFECT IS AN AUTOMOBILE
The internal heating due to green- house effect can be observed in a car
parked in sun-shine with all its windows closed, This can be explained as follows :
The glass windows of a car allow the visible sunlight and the very short
wavelength intra-red rays contained in sunlight to pass through them freely and go
inside the car. These rays are reflected from the inside surface of the car (like dash-
board, seats, etc.) Now, the intra-red radiation emitted by very hot sun and which
entered the closed car was of very short wavelength, but the intra-red radiation
reflected (or emitted) by the less hot "inside surface" of cares of longer
wavelength. The glass windows of car do not allow this long wavelength intra-red
radiation to go out through them. So, the intra-red rays get trapped inside the car.
since the intra-red radiations produce a heating effect, therefore, the interior
(inside) of the car gets heated considerably. Thus glass is a solid substance which
produces green house effect.
Those gases which can trap intra-red radiation given by the sun to produce
green-house effect leading to heating up of the environment are called green-house
gases. One of the most important green-house gas is carbon dioxide. Water vapor
and ozone also have the ability to trap the intra-red radiation so they are also called
green house gases. Thus, we have three green-house gases :-
(i) Carbon dioxide, CO2
(ii) Water vapor, H2O and
(iii) Ozone, O3
Out of these three, water-vapor and ozone do not contribute much green-
house effect to the earth's atmosphere because ozone is present only in the upper
part of atmosphere whereas water. Vapor is found only near the surface of earth
(which is at the bottom of the atmosphere). Only carbon dioxide contributes largely
to the green house effect in the earth's atmosphere, because carbon dioxide is much
more uniformly distributed in atmosphere.
The green-house effect produced by carbon dioxide gas is very crucial to our
existence on earth. This can be explained as fellows : By producing the green-
house effect, carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere traps the intra-red rays (heat
rays), leading to the heating of earth and its atmosphere. This heating of earth (or
rise in temperature of earth) is very necessary for our existence because without it,
the whole earth would be converted into an extremely cold planet, making the
existence of life difficult.
Our earth's atmosphere is transparent to the visible radiations coming from
sun, stars etc. But reflects back the infrared radiations and hence it does not allow
the infrared radiations to pass. The energy from the sun, heats the earth which in
turn starts emitting radiations. Since the earth gets heated to much lower
temperature than the temperature of sun, the radiations emitted by earth are mostly
in the infrared region, according to Plancks low. These radiations emitted by earth
are reflected back by earth's atmosphere. Due to which the earth's surface remains
warm at night.







Basic mechanism
The Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form UV, visible, and near IR
radiation, most of which passes through the atmosphere without being absorbed.
Of the total amount of energy available at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), about
50% is absorbed at the Earth's surface. Because it is warm, the surface radiates far
IR thermal radiation that consists of wavelengths that are predominantly much
longer than the wavelengths that were absorbed. Most of this thermal radiation is
absorbed by the atmosphere and re-radiated both upwards and downwards; that
radiated downwards is absorbed by the Earth's surface. This trapping of long-
wavelength thermal radiation leads to a higher equilibrium temperature than if the
atmosphere were absent.
This highly simplified picture of the basic mechanism needs to be qualified in a
number of ways, none of which affect the fundamental process.

The solar radiation spectrum for direct light at both the top of the Earth's
atmosphere and at sea level
The incoming radiation from the Sun is mostly in the form of visible light
and nearby wavelengths, largely in the range 0.24 m, corresponding to the
Sun's radiative temperature of 6,000 K. Almost half the radiation is in the
form of "visible" light, which our eyes are adapted to use.
About 50% of the Sun's energy is absorbed at the Earth's surface and the rest
is reflected or absorbed by the atmosphere. The reflection of light back into
spacelargely by cloudsdoes not much affect the basic mechanism; this
light, effectively, is lost to the system.
The absorbed energy warms the surface. Simple presentations of the
greenhouse effect, such as the idealized greenhouse model, show this heat
being lost as thermal radiation. The reality is more complex: the atmosphere
near the surface is largely opaque to thermal radiation (with important
exceptions for "window" bands), and most heat loss from the surface is by
sensible heat and latent heat transport. Radiative energy losses become
increasingly important higher in the atmosphere largely because of the
decreasing concentration of water vapor, an important greenhouse gas. It is
more realistic to think of the greenhouse effect as applying to a "surface" in
the mid-troposphere, which is effectively coupled to the surface by a lapse
rate.
Within the region where radiative effects are important the description given
by the idealized greenhouse model becomes realistic: The surface of the
Earth, warmed to a temperature around 255 K, radiates long-wavelength,
infrared heat in the range 4100 m. At these wavelengths, greenhouse
gases that were largely transparent to incoming solar radiation are more
absorbent. Each layer of atmosphere with greenhouses gases absorbs some
of the heat being radiated upwards from lower layers. To maintain its own
equilibrium, it re-radiates the absorbed heat in all directions, both upwards
and downwards. This results in more warmth below, while still radiating
enough heat back out into deep space from the upper layers to maintain
overall thermal equilibrium. Increasing the concentration of the gases
increases the amount of absorption and re-radiation, and thereby further
warms the layers and ultimately the surface below.
Greenhouse gasesincluding most diatomic gases with two different atoms
(such as carbon monoxide, CO) and all gases with three or more atomsare
able to absorb and emit infrared radiation. Though more than 99% of the dry
atmosphere is IR transparent (because the main constituentsN
2
, O
2
, and
Arare not able to directly absorb or emit infrared radiation),
intermolecular collisions cause the energy absorbed and emitted by the
greenhouse gases to be shared with the other, non-IR-active, gases.
The simple picture assumes equilibrium. In the real world there is the diurnal
cycle as well as seasonal cycles and weather. Solar heating only applies
during daytime. During the night, the atmosphere cools somewhat, but not
greatly, because its emissivity is low, and during the day the atmosphere
warms. Diurnal temperature changes decrease with height in the atmosphere.
Role in climate change

Year
The Keeling Curve of atmospheric CO
2
concentrations measured at Mauna Loa
Observatory.
Strengthening of the greenhouse effect through human activities is known as the
enhanced (or anthropogenic) greenhouse effect. This increase in radiative forcing
from human activity is attributable mainly to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide
levels.
CO
2
is produced by fossil fuel burning and other activities such as cement
production and tropical deforestation. Measurements of CO
2
from the Mauna Loa
observatory show that concentrations have increased from about 313 ppm in 1960
to about 389 ppm in 2010. The current observed amount of CO
2
exceeds the
geological record maxima (~300 ppm) from ice core data. The effect of
combustion-produced carbon dioxide on the global climate, a special case of the
greenhouse effect first described in 1896 by Svante Arrhenius, has also been called
the Callendar effect.
Because it is a greenhouse gas, elevated CO
2
levels contribute to additional
absorption and emission of thermal infrared in the atmosphere, which produce net
warming. According to the latest Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, "most of the observed increase in globally averaged
temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase
in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations".
Over the past 800,000 years,
[23]
ice core data shows unambiguously that carbon
dioxide has varied from values as low as 180 parts per million (ppm) to the pre-
industrial level of 270ppm. Paleoclimatologists consider variations in carbon
dioxide to be a fundamental factor in controlling climate variations over this time
scale.
Real greenhouses

A modern Greenhouse in RHS Wisley
The "greenhouse effect" is named by analogy to greenhouses. The greenhouse
effect and a real greenhouse are similar in that they both limit the rate of thermal
energy flowing out of the system, but the mechanisms by which heat is retained are
different.
[27]
A greenhouse works primarily by preventing absorbed heat from
leaving the structure through convection, i.e. sensible heat transport. The
greenhouse effect heats the earth because greenhouse gases absorb outgoing
radiative energy and re-emit some of it back towards earth.
A greenhouse is built of any material that passes sunlight, usually glass, or plastic.
It mainly heats up because the Sun warms the ground inside, which then warms the
air in the greenhouse. The air continues to heat because it is confined within the
greenhouse, unlike the environment outside the greenhouse where warm air near
the surface rises and mixes with cooler air aloft. This can be demonstrated by
opening a small window near the roof of a greenhouse: the temperature will drop
considerably. It has also been demonstrated experimentally (R. W. Wood, 1909)
that a "greenhouse" with a cover of rock salt (which is transparent to infra red)
heats up an enclosure similarly to one with a glass cover. Thus greenhouses work
primarily by preventing convective cooling.
In the greenhouse effect, rather than retaining (sensible) heat by physically
preventing movement of the air, greenhouse gases act to warm the Earth by re-
radiating some of the energy back towards the surface. This process may exist in
real greenhouses, but is comparatively unimportant there.
Bodies other than Earth
In our solar system, Mars, Venus, and the moon Titan also exhibit greenhouse
effects.
[29]
Titan has an anti-greenhouse effect, in that its atmosphere absorbs solar
radiation but is relatively transparent to infrared radiation. Pluto also exhibits
behavior superficially similar to the anti-greenhouse effect.
[30][31]

A runaway greenhouse effect occurs if positive feedbacks lead to the evaporation
of all greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
[32]
A runaway greenhouse effect
involving carbon dioxide and water vapor is thought to have occurred on Venus.
[33]

The government doing to stop global warming
The government is doing many things to help stop global warming. The
government made a law called The Clean Air Act so there is less air pollution.
Global warming is making people get very bad illnesses that could make them
disabled, very sick, and sometimes even die. The Clean Air Act is making many
companies change their products to decrease these problems. Part of the law says
that you may not put a certain amount of pollutants in the air. Hairspray and some
other products, like foam cups, had this problem. Making and using these products
let out too much volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone-destroying chemicals
(chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and related chemicals (such as CO2) into the air.
Now, almost all of these products have a label on them telling people what this
product can do to the environment and many people. By 2015 all products listed
on the Clean Air Act will have this label on them:
Almost all of the other chemicals that could be harmful will have this label on
them hopefully by this time (2015) as well.
The Clean Air Act has also made car companies change some of the things inside
of the cars. Cars pollute a lot. While cars make more than half of the worlds
smog (visible pollution in the air), many things that cars need to move and heat up
make even more pollution. Some things that are inside of cars, buses, trucks, and
motorcycles, like gasoline, pollute the air when the fuel is burned. It comes out as
a chemical and when mixed in the air, forms smog. Smog is a kind of pollution
that you see in the form of a cloud. If you have ever been to California you can see
a lot of smog in some places. Sometimes the smog gets so bad that you cannot see
at all! Smog forms when car exhaust, pollution from homes, and pollution from
factories mixes in the air and has a chemical reaction. The suns heat and light add
to the reaction.
Cars, buses, and trucks are also responsible for over 50% of dangerous chemicals
let into the air. Some of these chemicals can cause cancer, birth defects, trouble
breathing, brain and nerve damage, lung injures, and burning eyes. Some of the
pollutants are so harmful that they can even cause death.
The other dangerous chemical
Some other chemicals that cause air pollution and are bad for the environment and
people are:

Ozone- Ozone is produced when other pollution chemicals combine. It is the
basic element of smog. It causes many different kinds of health issues
dealing with the lungs. It can damage plants and limit sight. It can also
cause a lot of property damage.

VOCs (volatile organic compounds, smog formers)- VOCs are let into the air
when fuel is burned. This chemical can cause cancer. It can also harm plants.

NOx (nitrogen dioxide)- This chemical forms smog. It is also formed by
burning sources of energy, like gas, coal, and oil, and by cars. This chemical
causes problems in the respiratory system (including the lungs). It causes
acid rain, and it can damage trees. This chemical can eat away buildings and
statues.

CO (carbon monoxide)- The source of this chemical is burning sources of
energy. It causes blood vessel problems and respiratory failures.

PM-10 (particulate matter)- The source of this chemical is plowing and burning
down fields. It can cause death and lung damage. It can make it hard for
people to breathe. The smoke, soot, ash, and dust formed by this chemical
can make many cities dirty.

Sulfur Dioxide- This chemical is produced by making paper and metals. This
chemical can cause permanent lung damage. It can cause acid rain which
kills trees and damages building and statues.

Kid can help stop global warming, too!!
Although adults do many things to help stop global warming, kids can do just as
much. Kids cant do hard things like making a law, but we can do easier things
like not watching as much TV. You can listen to your parents when they say, turn
off your lights or go play outside. Listening to them and actually trying to help can
help you, your environment, and the world.


Solution to Stop Global Warming
By investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and increasing the
efficiency of the cars we drive, we can take essential steps toward reducing our
dependence on oil and other fossil fuels that cause global warming. There are lotof
companies dedicated to building engines and inventions that could save us from
the effects of global warming.
Using energy more efficiently and moving to renewable energy (wind, solar,
geothermal, and bioenergy) would significantly reduce our emissions of heat-
trapping gases. The United States currently produces 70 percent of its electricity
from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil, but only two percent from
renewable sources.
By creating new "free energy" sources like wind power or electric cars. We can
slow down the effects of global warming. What we really need is a new engine for
cars that would take no gasoline whatsoever or any other type of fuel that creates
carbon dioxide. Many inventors in the past have created free energy machines,
many of those were lost with time.
-Another way to stop global warming is to plant more trees. We have cut down
way too many trees in the past, and we are still doing it. Much of the tropical
rainforest has been cut down, rainforests create a lot of oxygen for us to breathe.
By cutting them down we lower our level of oxygen in the air.
-Many people are already planting more trees, but we need much more people
getting into it around the world. The best solution to global warming is to plant
more trees (a lot more) and we need to replace our current destructive technologies
with more efficient technologies that don't pollute the air we breathe.
"Climate change is really happening," says Cicerone.
Asked what is causing the changes, Cicernone says it's greenhouse gases: "Carbon
dioxide and methane, and chlorofluorocarbons and a couple of others, which are all
the increases in their concentrations in the air are due to human activities. It's
that simple."
But if it is that simple, why do some climate science reports look like they have
been heavily edited at the White House? With science labeled "not sufficiently
reliable." Its a tone of scientific uncertainty the president set in his first months in
office after he pulled out of a global treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
DOES THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT EVEN EXIST?The greenhouse warming of
the Earth's surface is believed by some people to be physically impossible. They
claim it would violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, which basically states that
energy must flow from where there is more to where there is less.

The reason for this apparent violation is that the existence of greenhouse gases in
the COLDER layers of the atmosphere make the surface WARMER, which would
suggest energy flow from colder to warmer, which would seem to violate the 2nd
Law. But the greenhouse effect is kind of like adding a lid to cover a pot of water
on the stove...even though the lid is colder than the water, its presence actually
makes the water warmer.

It's the TOTAL (net) flow of energy which must be from warmer to colder, which
is indeed the case in both the greenhouse effect, and adding a lid to the pot of water
on the stove.
Here is a graph showing the data on Temperature in the United States for 2006,
notice that in most states the temperatures were "much above normal".






Conclusion

The greenhouse affect is a natural process where the atmosphere traps some of the
sun's energy, warming the Earth enough to support life. Although the greenhouse
effect is a nature cycle, humans have greatly increased the concentrations of
greenhouse gases, thus causing a significant increase in the overall greenhouse
effect. A number of gases are involved in the human caused enhancement of the
greenhouse effect. These gases include: carbon dioxide (CO2); methane (CH4);
nitrous oxide (N20); CFC's and ozone (03) Out of all these gases the most
important is carbon dioxide which accounts for around 55% of the change in the
intensity of the Earth's greenhouse effect. The consequence of the greenhouse
effect is that there will a rise in the sea levels around the world, there will be
dramatic climate changes, and agriculture will suffer from the fluxes of the
weather. However, it's not too late to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, some
effective ways to reduce emissions it to: use cleaner fuels, use energy efficient
machines, develop alternative sources for energy and to plant more trees.