Global Climate Change Case Study Analysis

One atmospheric phenomenon that enables the Earth to sustain life is known as the “greenhouse effect.” However, vital this effect is for human life, it may also be what eventually causes the next ice age, bringing all life to an end. About half of all solar radiation reaches the earth’s surface. The other half, is either returned back in the form of heat, or is used for such things as photosynthesis, changed to heat energy, then sent back into the atmosphere. Gases such as carbon dioxide hold onto heat, in turn, warming the earth’s surface. Without this, the earth’s temperature would drop dramatically, and life here on Earth would not be sustained. The greenhouse effect seems like a good thing; however, the problem is that man has increased these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing the balance of energy, incoming and outgoing, to become disturbed.

Background

Global warming can be defined as the increase in average temperature of the Earth’s near surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. (Wikipedia, 2007) Global warming is closely correlated with the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This increase in global temperature will eventually have extreme repercussions on the earth.

Greenhouse gases are the gases, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere which hold heat, contributing to the greenhouse effect. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally, while others result from human activities such as the burning