Understanding what Global Warming entails
Global warming refers to the fact that the atmosphere of the Earth is warming near its surface; the Earth’s atmosphere is thus getting hotter. It is believed that climate changes such as global warming have occurred throughout the history of the Earth and will continue to occur in the future. There is evidence to suggest that solar activity is a big offender with regards to global warming.
Theories relating to Global Warming
The greenhouse effect plays a big role in contributing to global warming. Gases that make up the Earth’s atmosphere are analogous to a greenhouse in that they allow sunlight to pass through and subsequently trap heat from escaping. The greenhouse effect, a naturally occurring phenomenon, keeps the surface of the Earth warmer than it would be otherwise. In recent years, the greenhouse wall has been thickened beyond naturally occurring levels due to a large amount of human produced compounds regularly released into the Earth’s atmosphere. When this takes place, even less heat is able to escape, which causes temperatures to rise. This process is called greenhouse warming and results in global warming.
The ozone is another theory commonly associated with global warming. The ozone is a naturally occurring gas in the lower atmosphere that helps to trap heat. The burning of fossil fuels creates even more ozone, as ozone is one component of smog. As ozone builds, so does the trapped heat, thus increasing the greenhouse effect and subsequently global warming. Apart from the lower atmosphere, the ozone also plays a crucial role in the upper atmosphere, where it shields the Earth from deadly ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, CFC’s, the same human produced compound which acts like a greenhouse gas in the lower atmosphere, destroy the ozone. This results in holes appearing in our upper ozone layer.
Global Warming has far-reaching implications
Global Warming and all its related issues have far-reaching implications and as such can have a significant impact on human life. For this reason, it is important to find out for how long global warming has taken place on Earth, at what rate global warming is taking place, and what factors are causing global warming. Answers to these issues will prepare all of humankind to handle the different effects of global warming.
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