Introduction

Today's people are spending their daily lives on earth doing few things. The biggest and most serious environmental problem that the earth is facing currently and into the future is called Global Warming. The Greenhouse Effect is a controversial issue in society today. It is generalized as "global warming", because the "Greenhouse Effect" is said to be the result of a 'blanket' - made up of gases such as water vapor and carbon dioxide - forming over Earth like a greenhouse.

Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is the heating of the Earths surface, due to the presence of the greenhouse gases. It is named this way because of the similar effect produced by the glass panels of a greenhouse which retains the heat. The way the Earth is heated is by heat wave lengths coming from the sun which passes through the Earths atmosphere and then is absorbed by the surface of the Earth which causes warming. Some of the absorbed energy is than reradiated back into the atmosphere where some of this energy escapes back into space. The greenhouse effect is very important. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would not be warm enough for humans to live or survive on. But if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it could make the Earth surface warmer than usual. Even a little extra warming may cause problems for humans, plants, animals and other living things on earth.

What Causes the Greenhouse Effect?

Life on earth depends on energy from the sun. About 30 percent of the sunlight that beams toward Earth is deflected by the outer atmosphere and scattered back into space. The rest reaches the planets surface and is reflected upward again as a type of slow-moving energy called infrared radiation. As it rises, infrared radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone and methane, which slows its escape from the atmosphere. Although greenhouse gases make up only about 1 percent of the Earths atmosphere, they regulate our climate by trapping heat and holding it in a kind of warm-air blanket that surrounds the planet. This phenomenon is what scientists call the "greenhouse effect." Without it, scientists estimate that the average temperature on Earth would be colder by approximately 30 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit), far too cold to sustain our current ecosystem.

How Do Humans Contribute to the Greenhouse Effect?

While the greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth, there really can be too much of a good thing.

The problems begin when human activities distort and accelerate the natural process by creating more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than are necessary to warm the planet to an ideal temperature. Burning natural gas, coal and oil including gasoline for automobile enginesraises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Some farming practices and land-use changes increase the levels of methane and nitrous oxide. Many factories produce long-lasting industrial gases that do not occur naturally, yet contribute significantly to the enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming that is currently under way. Deforestation also contributes to global warming. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place, which helps to create the optimal balance of gases in the atmosphere. As more forests are logged for timber or cut down to make way for farming, however, there are fewer trees to perform this critical function. Population growth is another factor in global warming, because as more people use fossil fuels for heat, transportation and manufacturing the level of greenhouse gases continues to increase. As more farming occurs to feed millions of new people, more greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere. Ultimately, more greenhouse gases means more infrared radiation trapped and held which gradually increases the temperature of the Earths surface and the air in the lower atmosphere.

The Average Global Temperature

Today, the increase in the Earths temperature is increasing with unprecedented speed. It is because,
During the entire 20th century, the average global temperature increased by about 0.6

degrees Celsius (slightly more than 1 degree Fahrenheit).

Using computer climate models, scientists estimate that by the year 2100 the average global

temperature will increase by 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius (approximately 2.5 degrees to 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

The effects of global warming and the greenhouse effect

Scientists agree that even a small increase in the global temperature would lead to significant climate and weather changes, affecting cloud cover, precipitation, wind patterns, the frequency and brutality of storms, and the duration of seasons.

 Rising temperatures would raise sea levels as well, reducing supplies of fresh water as flooding occurs along coastlines worldwide and salt water reaches inland. Many of the worlds endangered species would become extinct as rising temperatures changed their habitat. Millions of people also would be affected, especially poor people who live in insecure locations or depend on the land for a subsistence living. Certain vector-borne diseases carried by animals or insects, such as malaria, would become more widespread as warmer conditions expanded their range.

Greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gases are a naturally blanket that is designed to keep the earth at 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would be without these gases in the worlds atmosphere. If the earth did not have the greenhouse gases, the world would be inhabitable for people. This is called Greenhouse effect. Out the past few years the earths temperature has increased by about .5 degrees and scientists believe this is because of an increase in concentration of the main greenhouse gases: - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. From the change in temperature over the past century people are calling this the beginning of the Global Warming. People are starting to fear that if we keep producing such gases at these high increasing rates it will have a negative impact on nature. Some of the problems from greenhouse gasses are flooding, droughts, sea levels rising and the Earths precipitation. These changes to the environment will most likely cause negative effects on society, such as lower health and decreasing economic development. However, some scientists argue that the global warming we are experiencing now is a natural phenomenon, and is part of Earth's natural cycle. Presently, nobody can prove if either theory is correct, but one thing is certain; the world has been emitting greenhouse gases at extremely high rates and has shown only small signs of reducing emissions until the last few years.

Climate variability
Climate Variability is also known as climate change. This a long term significant change in the average weather that is given region experiences. The average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. This all involves changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over long durations that are ranging from decades to millions upon millions of years ago. These changes can cause major problems on earth such as sunlight intensity. The terms climate change refer to changes in modern climate.

Climate changes

The worlds climate change is a result of the changes in the weather patterns because of a rise in Earths average temperature. Climate change is caused by an increase in greenhouse gases in earths atmosphere. This gas absorbs heat from the sun instead of heat leaving earths atmosphere, some trapped, making earth warmer. Climate changes also know as global warming. Greenhouse gases have been a natural part of atmosphere. Absorb and re-radiate the suns warmth and maintain earths temperature at a level necessary to support life. Since Industrial Revolution have steep rise in concentration of gases in the atmosphere because of the human activity. All of this is enhancing greenhouse effect; this is contributing to the warming of earths surface.

Current Evidence of Climate Change

Numerous long-term changes in the climate have been observed, including extreme weather such as droughts, heavy precipitation, heat waves and the intensity of tropical cyclones. Trends towards more powerful storms and hotter, longer dry periods have been observed and are assessed in the IPCCs Fourth Assessment Report. Warmer temperatures mean greater evaporation, and a warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture -- hence there is more water aloft that can fall as precipitation. Similarly, dry regions are apt to lose still more moisture if the weather is hotter; this exacerbates droughts and desertification.

Droughts are becoming more severe as world temperatures increase.

The frequency of heavy precipitation events has increased over most land areas. Significantly increased precipitation has been observed in eastern parts of North and South America, northern Europe and northern and central Asia. There is also observational

evidence for an increase of intense tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic since about 1970. Drying has also been observed over large regions, i.e. the Sahel, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and parts of southern Asia. In Africa's large catchment basins of Niger, Lake Chad, and Senegal, total available water has decreased by 40 to 60 per cent, and desertification has been worsened by lower average annual rainfall, runoff, and soil moisture, especially in southern, northern, and western Africa. The Rhine floods of 1996 and 1997, the Chinese floods of 1998, the East European floods of 1998 and 2002, the Mozambique and European floods of 2000, and the monsoon-based flooding of 2004 in Bangladesh (which left 60 per cent of the country under water), are examples of more powerful storms.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions are the Biggest Problem

Currently, carbon dioxide accounts for more than 60 percent of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by the increase of greenhouse gases, and the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing by more than 10 percent every 20 years. If emissions of carbon dioxide continue to grow at current rates, then the level of the gas in the atmosphere will likely double, or possibly even triple, from pre-industrial levels during the 21st century.

The Greenhouse Effect and the Carbon Cycle

A thicker blanket of greenhouse gases traps more infrared radition and raises temperatures. Life on earth is made possible by energy from the sun, which arrives mainly in the form of visible light. About 30 per cent of sunlight is scattered back into space by the outer atmosphere, but the rest reaches the earth's surface, which reflects it in the form of a calmer, more slow-moving type of energy called infrared radiation. (This is the sort of heat thrown off by an electric grill before the bars begin to

grow red.) Infrared radiation is carried slowly aloft by air currents, and its eventual escape into space is delayed by greenhouse gases such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane.

Greenhouse gases make up only about 1 per cent of the atmosphere, but they act like a

blanket around the earth, or like the glass roof of a greenhouse -- they trap heat and keep the planet some 30 degrees C warmer than it would be otherwise. Human activities are making the blanket "thicker" -- the natural levels of these gases are being supplemented by emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas; by additional methane and nitrous oxide produced by farming activities and changes in land use; and by several long-lived industrial gases that do not occur naturally.
These changes are happening at unprecedented speed. If emissions continue to grow at

current rates, it is almost certain that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide will double from pre-industrial levels during the 21st century. It is possible they will triple. The result, known as the "enhanced greenhouse effect," is a warming of the earth's surface and lower atmosphere. The IPCC assesses with very high confidence that the globally averaged net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming. The best case computer climate models estimate that the average global temperature will rise by 1.8 C to 4.0 C by the year 2100. A temperature increase of 0.74 C occurred last century and for the next two decades, a warming of about 0.2 C per decade is projected should greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current pace and are allowed to double from their pre-industrial level.
A rise in temperature will be accompanied by changes in climate -- in such things as cloud

cover, precipitation, wind patterns, and the duration of seasons. In its Fourth Assessment Report, the IPCC projects that heat waves and heavy precipitation events are very likely to increase in frequency in the 21st century. In a world that is crowded and under stress, millions of people depend on weather patterns, such as monsoon rains, to continue as they have in the past. Changes, at a minimum, will be difficult and disruptive. Carbon dioxide is responsible for over 60 per cent of the "enhanced greenhouse

effect." Humans are burning coal, oil, and natural gas at a rate that is much, much faster than the speed at which these fossil fuels were created. This is releasing the carbon stored in the fuels into the atmosphere and upsetting the carbon cycle, the millennia-old, precisely balanced system by which carbon is exchanged between the air, the oceans, and land vegetation. Currently, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are rising by over 10 per cent every 20 years.

Fossil fuel use is boosting atmospheric levels of carbon, upsetting an age-old balance.

Hole in the Ozone Layer and the Greenhouse Effect

Ozone is an unstable gas (rather rare). It is a toxic form of oxygen. It consists of three atoms of oxygen in one molecule, while in the common molecule of oxygen there are only two atoms. Ozone is present in the entire atmosphere up to the altitude of approximately 50 kilometres. The layer containing the highest concentration of ozone (the ozone layer) is situated in the lower geographical latitudes at approximately 25 kilometres above the point zero (sea level). The altitude of the ozone layer decreases in the direction of Polar Regions. By means of photochemical reaction, the short-wave part of ultraviolet rays changes oxygen into ozone. In this way, the majority of cell-damaging ultraviolet light is absorbed. The use of chloro-fluoro-carbohydrates in sprays and manufacture of foams causes long-term damage of the protective ozone layer. The reason is, that when these gases are released, they rise very slowly into the atmosphere. There, they are dissolved by the ultraviolet light into free atoms of chlorine. They interact with ozone and destroy it. When the ozone layer is damaged, ultraviolet light penetrates to the surface of the earth. Chloro-fluoro-carbohydrates have a very long life and may continue destroying the ozone layer during many years. This destructive process is specially noticeable at lower temperatures. A considerable decrease in the ozone layer was registered several years ago at the South Pole during the winter season. This decrease is called the ozone hole. More than half of the ultraviolet rays pass through the hole. The consequence of this energy-releasing process is the release of heat. In the meantime, this effect emerged also over the North Pole. In Antarctica, when at the end of the polar night the atmosphere gradually warms up again, air from the lower latitudes, rich in ozone, streams in and "fills up" the ozone hole. In autumn of the year 2000, the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica increased to 29 million cubic kilometers, which is four times the size of Australia. According to the information of New Zealand Antarctic stations, this increases the risk of exposure to cancer-producing ultraviolet light

for the population of the southern hemisphere as never before. Antarctica as such is also threatened, because its very sensitive ecosystem may be quickly destroyed by this situation. While the ozone in the stratosphere is being depleted, in the lower layers of the atmosphere, i.e., in the troposphere, the amount of ozone is on the increase as a result of the emissions of the automobiles (nitrogen and sulfur oxides). However, this does not help balance the decreased amounts of ozone in the stratosphere. Even assuming that there will be a complete halt in use of the chloro-fluoro-carbohydrates, it must be taken into consideration that their damaging effects will increase. In the higher latitudes, people must take precautions and protect themselves against the ultraviolet light of the sun. In most cases, the term "greenhouse effect" is synonymous with a negative, man-made climate change. However, without a natural greenhouse effect, the life on our planet would be impossible. The earth would remain hostile to life. Sunlight easily passes into a greenhouse and warms it up. However, the heat cannot easily escape. That way, the heat accumulates, and that is very similar to what is going on in the atmosphere that surrounds us. It is made up of different gases: 78.1 percent of nitrogen, 21 percent of oxygen, 0.9 percent of argon, 0.03 percent of carbon dioxide, and traces of noble gases. Fifty percent of sunlight easily reaches the earth's surface, which is heated by this sunlight. The heated earth also irradiates heat. This heat, analogous to the heat of a greenhouse, cannot easily escape through the atmosphere into the universe. It is held in the atmosphere, mostly by water vapour and carbon dioxide. These two gases absorb the heat and transfer it back to the earth. At the present time, the mean temperature on the earth is plus 15 degrees Celsius. Without the greenhouse effect, the mean temperature would also be around 15 degrees, but it would be with the other symbol, that is to say, minus 15 degrees Celsius. In the last few decades, people have caused the increase of the greenhouse effect. Industry, transportation and agriculture, all share in the additional amounts of the greenhouse gases being produced. These gases prevent the heat to escape into the universe, and reflect it back to the earth. The more greenhouse gases there are, the more heat stays within the earth-atmosphere cycle. Carbon dioxide is not the only gas that increases the temperature in the atmosphere. There is also methane, which is released when forests are cleared by burning. It is also released by landfills and by many ruminants, such as beef cattle, sheep and goats. Carbon dioxide is exhaled by people and animals. It also escapes from volcanoes and is released by burning of fossil fuels. The ozone of the lower layers of the atmosphere is also one of the greenhouse gases. However, it is not absolutely clear, whether the global warming is caused by the increased production of greenhouse gases, that is to say, by man. (Today, it's already been demonstrated -

note of the editor). Without any doubt, though, the increase in global warming during the 20the century had been extreme. That century was the warmest one in the last 500 year.

What is being done to Reduce Global Warming?

To lessen the above long-term effects, many nations, communities and individuals are taking action now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming by reducing dependence on fossil fuels, increasing the use of renewable energy, expanding forests, and making lifestyle choices that help to sustain the environment. Whether they will be able to recruit enough people to join them, and whether their combined efforts will be enough to head off the most serious effects of global warming, are open questions that can only be answered by future developments. With this information, everyone could take a step back before increasing industrial activities, fossil fuel burning, cement production, destruction of our flora, and such un-healthy planet practices.

Conclusion
We need to significantly reduce the greenhouse gases concentration present in our atmosphere. A reduction of greenhouse gases let out by industry is absolutely necessary, no matter how many factors involved in the earths climate processes.

The green house effect is not a disaster, but a condition essential to all life on earth!

Sources:

Article in Dagbladet, net edition: www.dagbladet.no/kultur/1999/07/17258.html www.miljostatus.no Hernes/ Skarning: Biology figures: http://www.gfdl.gov/~tk/climate_dynamics/climate_impact_webpage.html