Global Warming Report

Over the past few decades scientist have been observing a warming trend in the over all temperature of the earth. Although the earth has been known to go through warm and cold periods, it seems that we humans are causing the earth to heat up this time. The greenhouse effect is causing the earth to go through this warming trend that we call global warming. The greenhouse effect is caused when the infrared radiation from the sun is absorbed in atmospheric gasses such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane. All of these gasses escape slowly from the atmosphere, therefore the heat stays here longer in a short of warm airy blanket. Without the occurrence of the greenhouse effect scientist say that the earths average temperature would be around 30 degrees C. or 50 degrees F.

There are many greenhouse gasses that can trap the infrared rays of the sun. Carbon dioxide can be released into the atmosphere in several ways, the bulk of it is produced by car exhaust, deforestation, and the burning of fossil fuels. It is a colorless, odorless, non flammable gas, and it is also the most prominent greenhouse gas in earths atmosphere. CO2 is recycled through the earths atmosphere using the process photosynthesis, which makes most life on earth possible. Another greenhouse gas is methane and it is one of the most common gasses in the universe. methane is colorless odorless gas that is lighter than air and is produced by organic decay. Deposits of methane can usually be found in areas where lots of natural decay takes place, such as swamps, and land fills. Each year we add 350-500 million tons of methane to the atmosphere through mining, raising livestock, rice cultivation, and landfills. In fact a cow can release up to a half pound of methane into the air everyday. Nitrous oxide is another colorless and greenhouse gas, however it does smell sweet. It is mostly used medically because it deadens pain, because of this it is called laughing gas. It is