Greenhouse Gasses

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 12th grade February 2001

download word file, 2 pages 5.0

Greenhouse Gases The results from the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the cause of global warming. To make the world more habitable for humans and animals, the greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring part of the earth's climate. There is a natural balance in the incoming solar radiation that heats up the earth, which in turn emits an infer-red radiation. The maintenance of this natural balance, which keeps tempatures at a necessary level to support life, depends on continual process of generation and removal of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

Increased levels of greenhouse gases have come from the changes in living standards, industrialization and population growth. Most of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases have a long lifetime and they are accumulating in the atmosphere faster then they can be naturally removed. Due to the increased greenhouse gases from the earth ecosystem not being able to soak the gases up fast enough lead to the changes in climate patterns.

The change that occurs will not be uniform around the world such that the raise in temperature will be smaller at the equator and greater at the poles and will be accompanied by an increase in average rainfall. Potentially serious changes have been projected such as floods, extremely high temperatures, and droughts. Projections also include less severe floods and droughts. With the variability of the regions other environmental consequences have occurred such as increased fires, pest outbreaks and changes to the spread of disease as well as the changes in the ecosystem composition, structure and functioning.

The greenhouse gases are radioactively active gases that comprise on average less then one percent by volume of the atmosphere. The largest natural greenhouse gas is the water vapor that varies in concentration over short time frames. Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and...