A greenhouse gas known as carbon dioxide is the second biggest absorber of the sun 's heat rays. Humans affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in many ways. Every time fossil fuels are burned, more carbon dioxide is released into the air. Car exhaust emissions also increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, and more carbon dioxide means more heat rays being absorbed. This will cause the earth 's temperature to warm.
Another greenhouse gas is methane. "Methane absorbs infrared radiation 25 times more effectively than carbon dioxide, making it an important greenhouse gas despite its relatively low concentration" (Murck, Skinner, and Porter 490). Many studies have been performed on how methane is released into the atmosphere. Results have shown that methane is "generated by biological activity related to rice cultivation, leaks in domestic and industrial gas lines, and the digestive process of domestic livestock,
Cited: "Fast Facts." Environmental Media Services. 10 July 2001. 23 Nov. 2001 http://www.ems.org/climate/sub2_climate.html. Murck, Barbara W., Brian J. Skinner, and Stephen C. Porter. Environmental Geology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996 "The Planet Speaks." The Wilson Quarterly 25.4 (Autumn 2001): 124.