... fires will dump additional quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Changes in temperature and change the composition of the forests. At the present rate of destruction, most of the rain forests will be gone by the middle of the next century. The will allow man-made deserts to encroach on once lush areas. Evaporation rates will also increase and circulation patterns will change. Decreased rainfall in ... cropland could lose topsoil and become man-made deserts. Coastal regions, where half the human population lives, will feel the adverse effects of rising sea levels as the ice cap...

• Word Count: 1079
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... when a car engine gets hot. It contains chemicals that aid in the formation of ground level ozone as well as acid rain.1 Acid rain destroys the outsides of buildings, statues, etc. Acid rain can also contaminate drinking water, damage vegetation, and destroy sea life. These two pollutants are two of the most dangerous pollutants released through car exhaust. If these two pollutants ... due to human activity. Certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone allow radiation from the sun to break through the atmosphere and go to the earth's surface. Global warming affects all livin...

• Word Count: 1466
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... CO2 concentration leads to a 49% increase in biomass production in many species of trees (Tektran, 1998). Other studies have attained similar results. A higher concentration of CO2 was also found to increase drought tolerance in certain species of trees. This occurs because high CO2 concentrations cause trees to better regulate their water consumption. While it appears that increasing CO2 ... . It is caused by high levels of "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases allow heat from the sun to enter the atmosphere, but prevent it from escaping, thus resulting in warmer t...

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... driven by natural and human-influenced landscape and gas emission changes that can occur at the same time. Natural variations in temperature could be caused by variations in the earth's orbit, or variations in the sun's output, or several other factors including sulfur dioxide emitted by volcanoes. The precise contributions of these natural causes of temperature variations are unknown and unpredictable at ... forests alone is throwing hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. We are also losing temperate forests. The temperate forests of the world accou...

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• Approx Pages: 6

... as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, trap energy from the sun. These greenhouse gases allow incoming solar radiation to pass through the Earth's atmosphere, but prevent most of the outgoing infrared radiation from the surface and lower atmosphere from escaping into outer space. The greenhouse effect is important. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would not be warm enough for humans to live. But if ... glaciers melt. A glacier is a large sheet of ice that moves very, very slowly. Some melting glaciers add more water to the ocean. Warmer temperatures also mak...

• Word Count: 964
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... sheet of ice that moves very, very slowly. Some melting glaciers add more water to the ocean. Warmer temperatures also make water expand. When water expands in the ocean, it takes up more space and the level of the sea rises. Sea level may rise as much as 2 feet during the next century. This will effect both natural systems and manmade structures along coastlines. Coastal flooding ... others. Generally, poor people and poor countries are less likely to have the money and resources they need to cope with preventing and treating health problems. Very young children and the elderly adults wi...

• Word Count: 3240
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate