Global Warming

Introduction

Global warming is the rise in the temperature of the earths atmosphere. It is said to be the effect of green houses that the suns heat and light is being trapped in the atmosphere. Global warming affects many parts of the world. It makes the sea level rises. When sea level rises, it covers many low lands. When low lands are being covered by the sea waters, it affects the lives of many plants, animals and specially the lives of the people. Global warming could also affect the weather condition. Hot days hotter, heavier rainfall and flooding, storms stronger, and more severe droughts. This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our every day lives and will have grave implications for public health and social justice.

Cause of Global Warming

Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentration like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.

The Greenhouse Effect

When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sunlight. Some of these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of this long wave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth, some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is called the "Greenhouse Effect"