Term Papers on Greenhouse Effect

Term Paper Title	Greenhouse Effect
# of Words	877
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.51

Greenhouse Effect

When one starts a car or burns wood, the last thought on their mind is the
consequences to these actions. Unfortunately, the daily dangers to earth are not
widely know. Due to the constant change of society, this planet must cope with
various problems. One of the most important ecological structures is the ozone
layer. The same shield that protects us from the sun’s deadly radiation, can
also act as a blanket engulfing us in heat. This situation is know as the
greenhouse effect. What is the greenhouse effect, what causes it, and what can
be done to control it?

The problem of global warming has been around for some time now. Though not
until recently has it become a priority. So important, that figures such as Vice
President Al Gore have spoken out. Many are realizing that the greenhouse effect
is not something to be put aside, yet rather something to be worked on and
studied. "The greenhouse effect displays that nature is not immune to our
presence" (Kralijic, 1992).  Ways must be found to lessen the threat of this
growing crisis. If this effect were to continue and grow, the earth’s population
would be exposed to serious threats.

Carbon dioxide is essential for plants who use it for photosynthesis, yet too
much can lead to serious threats. The problem lies in the disruption of the
balance between how much carbon dioxide plants intake, and what our population
produces. If this natural filtering process is unbalanced, the atmosphere will
receive too much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Once these gases
form in the atmosphere, they act as barriers trapping in heat and warming the
earth.

This process is not new. In fact, without the greenhouse effect, the average
surface temperature of the earth would be about 59 Fahrenheit degrees lower than
it is today. "Long before civilization intervened , the thin blanket of gases
that surround the earth was efficiently trapping a tiny portion of the sun’s
heat and keeping it near the surface to warm up the air just enough to prevent
temperatures from plunging to frigid extremes  every night- which, of course, is
exactly what happens on the moon and on planets like Mars that have very thin
atmospheres" (Gore, 1992).

The greenhouse effect received its name because the atmosphere of the earth acts
much like the glass roof on a greenhouse. Sunlight enters the greenhouse through
the glass as it heats up the plants. Then, the warmth is trapped as the glass
slows the withdraw of heat.  Similarly, the earth’s atmosphere lets most of the
sun’s light enter and heat the surface. The earth then sends this energy, called
Infrared Radiation, back into the atmosphere (showed in the diagram on page 7).
This is when the actual effect takes place. Not all of the Infrared Radiation is
sent freely into space. Certain gases in the atmosphere absorb...

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