Sunday, March 8, 2009

Global Warming

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and the oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its continuation. The Greenhouse Effect is real without any doubt and it helps to regulate the temperature of our planet. It is essential for life on Earth and is one of Earth's natural processes. The Greenhouse gases absorb the heat and light from the sun and filter the harmful radiations.
There are many different causes for global warming. The causes are split up into two groups, natural causes and man-made causes. One natural cause is a release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands. Methane is a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Another natural cause is that the earth goes through a cycle of climate change. This climate change usually lasts about 40,000 years.
However, man-made causes probably do the most damage. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Burning fossil fuels is one thing that causes pollution. When fossil fuels are burned they give off green house gases like CO2 and Methane gas. Also mining coal and oil allows methane to escape. Another major man-made cause of Global Warming is population. More people mean more food, and more methods of transportation which means more methane because there will be more burning of fossil fuels.

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