What is global warming?
The term Global Warming refers to the observation that the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface is warming. This warming is one of many kinds of climate change that the Earth has gone through in the past and will continue to go through in the future. It is reasonable to expect that the Earth should warm as the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases. It is known for certain that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are rising dramatically due to human activity. It is less well known exactly how the increases in these greenhouse gases factor in the observed changes of the Earth’s climate and global temperatures.
Global warming is the increase in the earth’s global median surface temperature attributed to the Greenhouse effect, both by natural and human impact. It is usually synonymous with the term “climate change” and used commonly in reference to the negative effects to the climate in regions or areas, as a result of the steady increase of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A20. The Earth is wrapped in an insulating blanket of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane. As the sun’s rays shine on the Earth, this blanket of gases traps some of the heat – which has the effect of warming the planet and keeping it at a relatively constant level. Without it, the earth would either get too hot or too cold and life would not be able to survive. In effect the Earth is like a giant greenhouse. But instead of having glass panes which trap heat, the Earth has greenhouse gases. Global warming is a gradual warming of the Earth’s atmosphere and is believed to be caused by too many greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by human activity such as burning fossil fuels (e.g. coal and oil), land clearing and increased farming. The increased concentration of these gases is like constantly adding more glass layers to the greenhouse, ultimately raising the temperature inside. Global warming has serious repercussions for our planet’s biodiversity, sea lev
