Global Warming and Greenhouse Effects

Global warming is a significant increase in the Earth's climatic temperature over a relatively short period of time as a result of the activities of humans.

Global warming is caused by an increase in the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is not a bad thing by itself -- it's what allows Earth to stay warm enough for life to survive.

There are two meanings of the term "greenhouse effect".

1. There is a "natural" greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth's climate warm and habitable. 
2. There is also the "man-made" greenhouse effect, which is the enhancement of Earth's natural greenhouse effect by the addition of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels (mainly petroleum, coal, and natural gas). 

Natural Greenhouse Effect - naturally occurring greenhouse gases which are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20) which is normally trap some of the sun's heat and keeping the planet from freezing.

Human Enhanced Greenhouse Effect - during the human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are increasing greenhouse gas levels which leads to an enhanced greenhouse effect.

The caused of the climate change due to, when there are too many greenhouse gases, and the level of global warming increases.

Without the greenhouse effect, Earth will be cold and no life could survive it. Without any greenhouse effect at all, Earth would probably look a lot like Mars.Mars doesn't have a thick enough atmosphere to reflect enough heat back to the planet, so it gets very cold there.

While the Greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth, human activities starts to distort and accelerate the natural process by creating more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere such as

• Burning natural gas, coal and oil -including gasoline for automobile engines-raises 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 Earth's surface and the air in the lower atmosphere.

 That is why the best solution to help reducing the global warming is by introducing the Nuclear Energy for Power Generation .