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GLOBAL WARMING IS
ALSO KNOWN AS
THE GREENHOUSE
EFFECT
GLOBAL WARMING IS ALSO CALLED:
So what is a
greenhouse? How
does it work?
What has this got
to do with global
warming then??
Our earth is surrounded by a layer of gases called
greenhouse gases which are naturally occurring (in other
words they are meant to be there and would be there
whether humans were on the planet or not!) There job is
to keep the planet at a nice warm temperature - in fact
without them there would be no little life on our planet as
the temperature would be 33 c colder and far too cold
for plants and animals to survive. The main gases that
make us this layer are carbon dioxide, methane, CFC and
nitrous oxide. This layer of gas acts like the roof of a
greenhouse and that is why it is called the greenhouse
effect. They allow the suns heat to pass through easily
and warm the planet but they do not allow much to escape
back into space thus keeping us all warm and able to
survive.
The greenhouse effect is
NATURAL! It is supposed to
happen! It would happen
even if there was not a
human being on the planet!
In fact if there was no
greenhouse effect then
humans could not live here
as the planet would be 33c
colder and would look like
and be as cold as Mars!
But HOW!?!?!
Think about the greenhouse as if it was the planet and this is….
Unfortunately human activity is adding
more gas to the layer than there should
be. It is therefore getting thicker and
thicker. It is still able to let the sun’s
heat through but even less heat is
escaping back into the atmosphere. This
means that the earth’s temperature is
rising.
Human activity is adding more gases to the naturally occurring layer of
greenhouse gases. This thickens it so it cannot let as much heat return to
space and so the temperature of the earth gradually increases……
GLOBAL WARMING!
Spend 5 minutes in 2’s listing all the ways that you have
contributed to global warming in the last 24 hours!
So where are these gases coming from?
Power stations release huge
amounts of carbon dioxide as
they burn coal (a fossil fuel) in
order to produce electricity.
Just think for a moment about
how much electricity we all
use…..!
But who are the main culprits….?
It’s many LEDC’s
They are currently experiencing their
industrial revolution and are becoming the
greatest users and producers of electricity
and are burning huge quantities of fossil
fuels to keep their booming industries going.
This is creating masses of pollution and
contributing greatly to global warming.
China and India are particular bad contributors
to global warming.
China is currently the world's second
largest
energy consumer and producer and will
overtake the USA by 2009
6 of the 10 most
polluted cities in the
world are in China!
1.It was found that 9 hottest years on record occurred during the past 14 years. The
mean Earth temperature in 1997 was 0.43°C higher than the past 26 years.
Brilliant we will be
able to sunbathe
here in the UK!!
And even that’s not necessarily a good thing!!
But what are the real consequences of global warming
for us all?