GLOBAL WARMING ( PART 1 )

What is global warming? 

Global warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises).  It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature.  This hurts many people, animals, and plants.  Many cannot take the change, so they die.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is when the temperature rises because the sun’s heat and light is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere.  This is like when heat is trapped in a car. On a very hot day, the car gets hotter when it is out in the parking lot.  This is because the heat and light from the sun can get into the car, by going through the windows, but it can’t get back out.  This is what the greenhouse effect does to the earth.  The heat and light can get through the atmosphere, but it can’t get out.  As a result, the temperature rises.

The squiggle lines coming from the sun are visible light and the lines and arrows inside the car are infrared light.

The sun’s heat can get into the car through the windows but is then trapped.  This makes what ever the place might be, a greenhouse, a car, a building, or the earth’s atmosphere, hotter.  This diagram shows the heat coming into a car as visible light (light you can see) and infrared light (heat).  Once the light is inside the car, it is trapped and the heat builds up, just like it does in the earth’s atmosphere.

Sometimes the temperature can change in a way that helps us.  The greenhouse effect makes the earth appropriate for people to live on.  Without it, the earth would be freezing, or on the other hand it would be burning hot.  It would be freezing at night because the sun would be down.  We would not get the sun’s heat and light to make the night somewhat warm.  During the day, especially during the summer, it would be burning because the sun would be up with no atmosphere to filter it, so people, plants, and animals would be exposed to all the light and heat.

Although the greenhouse effect makes the earth able to have people living on it, if there gets to be too many gases, the earth can get unusually warmer, and many plants, animals, and people will die.  They would die because there would be less food (plants like corn, wheat, and other vegetables and fruits).  This would happen because the plants would not be able to take the heat.  This would cause us to have less food to eat, but it would also limit the food that animals have.  With less food, like grass, for the animals that we need to survive (like cows) we would even have less food.  Gradually, people, plants, and animals would all die of hunger.  

What are greenhouse gasses?

Greenhouse gasses are gasses are in the earth’s atmosphere that collect heat and light from the sun.  With too many greenhouse gasses in the air, the earth’s atmosphere will trap too much heat and the earth will get too hot.  As a result people, animals, and plants would die because the heat would be too strong. 

What is global warming doing to the environment?

Global warming is affecting many parts of the world.  Global warming makes the sea rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands.  This is a big problem for many of the plants, animals, and people on islands.  The water covers the plants and causes some of them to die.  When they die, the animals lose a source of food, along with their habitat.  Although animals have a better ability to adapt to what happens than plants do, they may die also.  When the plants and animals die, people lose two sources of food, plant food and animal food.  They may also lose their homes.  As a result, they would also have to leave the area or die.  This would be called a break in the food chain, or a chain reaction, one thing happening that leads to another and so on.  

The oceans are affected by global warming in other ways, as well.  Many things that are happening to the ocean are linked to global warming.  One thing that is happening is warm water, caused from global warming, is harming and killing algae in the ocean.

Algae is a producer that you can see floating on the top of the water.  (A producer is something that makes food for other animals through photosynthesis, like grass.)  This floating green algae is food to many consumers in the ocean.  (A consumer is something that eats the producers.)  One kind of a consumer is small fish.  There are many others like crabs, some whales, and many other animals.  Fewer algae is a problem because there is less food for us and many animals in the sea. 

Global warming is doing many things to people as well as animals and plants.  It is killing algae, but it is also destroying many huge forests.  The pollution that causes global warming is linked to acid rain.  Acid rain gradually destroys almost everything it touches.  Global warming is also causing many more fires that wipe out whole forests.  This happens because global warming can make the earth very hot.  In forests, some plants and trees leaves can be so dry that they catch on fire. 

What causes global warming?  

Many things cause global warming.  One thing that causes global warming is electrical pollution.  Electricity causes pollution in many ways, some worse than others.  In most cases, fossil fuels are burned to create electricity.  Fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals.  Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum.  Many pollutants (chemicals that pollute the air, water, and land) are sent into the air when fossil fuels are burned.  Some of these chemicals are called greenhouse gasses.

We use these sources of energy much more than the sources that give off less pollution.  Petroleum, one of the sources of energy, is used a lot.  It is used for transportation, making electricity, and making many other things.  Although this source of energy gives off a lot of pollution, it is used for 38% of the United States’ energy.