Energy from the sun drives the earth's weather and climate, and heats the earth's surface. Then the earth radiates energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse. This creates the greenhouse effect. All the heat trapping gasses that have been produced since the industrial revolution in the 1800's have been building up in our atmosphere causing big changes to come about in our climate. Worldwide temperatures have climbed more that 1F over the past century. The 1990's were the hottest decade on record (Lemonick 25). This rise and falls in temperature is causing great problems for our ecosystem. The average daytime high temperature for New York City this week should be 57F, but on any given day the mercury will almost certainly fall short of that mark or overshoot it, perhaps by a lot. Manhattan thermometers can reach 65F in January every so often and plunge to 50F in .
July (Lemonick 24). Glaciers are melting around the world, mountaintop snowcaps are becoming smaller, and coral reefs are dying off because the seas are becoming to warm. .
These are just a few of the many problems that are arising from the effects of global warming. .
The main causes of this warming is thought to be the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which release carbon dioxide and other substances known as greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the largest greenhouse gas followed by methane and nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide accounts for three fourths of the predicted increase in the greenhouse effect. There are also many natural processes, such .
as volcanic eruptions, the respiration of animals, which breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, and the burning or decay of organic matter, such as plants that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Humans rise the amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere when they burn fossil fuels, solid wastes, drive vehicles, and generate electricity by the burning of coal.