ANA 215 SEMESTER TEST WILDCARD QUESTION

How humans caused global warming

What is global warming?

Global warming is caused by a continous increase in the greenhouse effect.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The sun shines and its rays hit the Earth’s atmosphere and the surface of the Earth.
Approximately, 30 percent of the energy gets reflected back into the space by clouds
and snow fields and approximately 70 percent of the energy stays on the planet. While
some of the heat escapes back into the space, rest of the heat gets absorbed by
greenhouse gases like methane, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous dioxide (N2O), water
vapor. The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat.
These gases prevent the heat from escaping back into the space. The more
greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped. Some of the
outgoing infrared radiation is trapped inside the atmosphere and keeps the
temperature of the earth within certain boundaries - relatively constant and liveable. It
is the greenhouse effect that makes this planet warm otherwise it would have been
too difficult for humans to survive on this planet. However, too much increase in the
earth’s temperature due to increase in the number of greenhouse gases results in
global warming. When the temperature starts to change rapidly, it becomes more
concerning.

How do humans contribute to global warming?

The problem is that this thin layer of atmosphere is being thickened by all of the global
warming pollution that is being released into the air. Greenhouse gases enter into the
atmosphere as a result of lot of human activities which include burning of fossil fuels
and wood productsToday, human and industrial activities are pumping in huge amount
of CO2 into the atmosphere. More CO2 in the atmosphere means more energy
absorption which results in increase in the earth’s temperature.