If the greenhouse effect has again been currently in the news, it is probably because it is once again being blamed for causing global warming. Stronger hurricanes, periods of extreme weather, heat waves, the frequency of the El Nino phenomenon, these are all attributed to global warming. But how does the greenhouse effect figure in all these?

What is the greenhouse effect? The greenhouse effect is the ability of our planet's atmosphere to trap and contain heat. This heat is sourced from the sun and is reflected back towards the atmosphere. Certain gases are responsible for this entrapment and they include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, fluorinated compounds and water vapor. Other man-made chemicals are also capable of retaining heat within the atmosphere.

In itself, the greenhouse effect is not essentially evil. In fact, it is this very phenomenon that has produced life on earth as we know it. Think of the greenhouse effect as a natural thermal blanketing for our planet, maintaining a surface temperature that is just right to encourage organisms to grow and survive. Without this blanketing, the earth's climate would be too cold -- about 59F lower than the average -- for our planet to be able to sustain life successfully.

How does the greenhouse effect contribute to global warming? For more than 4 billion years, the greenhouse effect has kept our planet's temperature at a friendly level. Gases found in the atmosphere act to trap heat and keep our planet insulated, able to sustain itself. Problems only began to arise when scientists noticed that certain practices and human activities contribute to the modification of this process.

When the Industrial Revolution began, we also devised many ways of using fossil fuel for oil, coal and gas. The only way to utilize these fuels was by burning. As industrialization continued to expand, so did the practice of fossil fuel burning, thereby releasing gases into the atmosphere. The only problem was that these gases had nowhere else to go and have continued to build up over the years.

By building up, they cause the atmosphere to become more efficient in trapping heat, causing climates to turn warmer. This unnatural or man-made result is referred to as global warming.

How global warming affects us We have been experiencing the effects of global warming for the past years and most of these are felt through changes in the climate. However, it's important to note that climate change is brought about by other factors and not just as an indirect result of the greenhouse effect. Some of these factors include changes in the circulation of the oceans, changes in our planet's orbit and even changes in the intensity of the sun itself.

Global warming involves increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere near its surface. While global warming is nothing new to our planet (it has occurred over long periods in the earth's 4.5-billion-year history alternating with ice ages), it is only now when its drastic changes on a global scale has dire consequences not just for human kind but also to the millions of species that depend upon the earth for sustenance.

A famous example of the effect of global warming is the increase in sea level, brought about by the melting of glaciers. This is a problem not readily seen nor felt in countries or regions that lie on higher ground, but for many areas, this could mean land (and subsistence opportunities) lost to sea. A 0.3-meter increase in sea level for example, can eat up about 15 meters of beach.

As temperatures rise, countries that have agricultural practices firmly dependent on the regularity of glacier-melting will suffer greatly. For many regions in the world, the melting of snowpacks from the mountains means water for plant irrigation and electricity. If the melting occurs at a bad time, the planting and harvesting of crops will be significantly disrupted, causing problems in the economy on a local and national level.

With global warming, abrupt weather changes may also be experienced, such as heat waves that last longer and occur with more frequency, stronger storms and hurricanes and even changes in the behavior of the winds. Warmer climate will also contribute to the displacement of plants and animals, as those who depend upon lower temperature regions to survive will need to move to higher elevations and latitudes. For plants and animals who cannot adapt, it could mean extinction.

Healthwise, diseases that right now are currently limited by the location and living habits of their carriers have the possibility of invading areas that didn't have a problem with them before. An example of this is malaria, along with other diseases caused by mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes thrive in tropical settings and as more and more regions become warmer, mosquitoes will expand their range. They will now be able to go to areas that they usually do not inhabit because of the temperature. This exposes the formerly unexposed population to the health risks caused by mosquito-borne diseases that also include dengue and elephantiasis.

Facing global warming The balance of life and competition among species may also be disrupted, in more ways than are currently foreseen. In fact, with global warming, certain lifestyles and animal behavior that we have enjoyed so far may also disappear, unless we do something to try to correct and arrest the problem. For more information now go to: http://www.stopearthdestruction.com/Effect-Global-Green-House-Warming.html

The Effects of Global Greenhouse Warming

The most important new of this week has to do with the progressive deterioration of our environment. We have an ethical debt with the nature, we must face the challenge, joining forces, ideologies and political barriers, because if we still continue overlooking this problem, our descendents will never forgive our indifference and negligence.

The global consequences generated by the progressive temperature raising simply ignore the fact we are in the eve of new year, its warning has nothing to do with formal pronouncements of the highest government spheres. To try to conciliate the final purpose of the self sustained growing with elemental paradigms such as self determination of the nations, interference around the way every nation conceives its patterns of development seems to be an inscrutable dialogue.

Click Here To Order The Greenhouse Effect: Warming the Planet (Exploring Science)

The Greenhouse Effect

The first in the Project Earthmend Series of environmentally conscious but enjoyable novels for kids who want to learn about how to save the Earth. When Tiger the Cat moves to Canberra with his owner Alexander, there are bound to be a few rough patches in settling in. The dogs next store are anything but friendly, and the nearby park is crawling with snakes and other creatures of the night. But Tiger makes friends with Wanda, the blue-tongued lizard and then finds himself wanting to become a Member of the Sacred Few, a group of magical frogs, actually extra-terrestrials in disguise. This crew has come to Earth on a mission to spread the word about the Great Danger, and the need to heal the planet of pollution and energy waste before it's too late. It's an adventure Tiger can't resist, filled with many surprises along the way. All he needs to do is be sure he won't miss out on his Cat Gourmet dinners along the way.

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Hothouse Earth: The Greenhouse Effect and Gaia

Another entry in publishers' Earth Day sweepstakes. This book will add little of substance to the debate over the causes, extent, and consequences of a potential global warming. Covering roughly the same ground as Michael Oppenheimer and Robert H. Boyle's Dead Heat ( LJ 4/15/90) and Francesca Lyman and others' The Greenhouse Trap ( LJ 4/15/90), this is less balanced and often dogmatic. Gribbin, an astrophysicist turned science writer, is convinced that the world is heading rapidly towards an eco-catastrophe, but his case is marred by imprecise language, incomplete explanations, arbitrary dating, and nonexistent, or incomplete, references.

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The Rough Guide to Climate Change (Rough Guide Reference Series)

The Rough Guide to Climate Change gives the complete picture of the single biggest issue facing the planet. Cutting a swathe through scientific research and political debate, this completely updated 3rd edition lays out the facts and assesses the options - global and personal - for dealing with the threat of a warming world. The guide looks at the evolution of our atmosphere over the last 4.5 billion years and what computer simulations of climate change reveal about our past, present and future. This updated edition includes scientific findings that have emerged since the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as well as background on recent controversies and an updated politics section that reflects post-Copenhagen developments. You can discover how rising temperatures and sea levels, plus changes to extreme weather patterns, are already affecting life around the world. "The Rough Guide to Climate Change" unravels how governments, scientists and engineers plan to tackle the problem and includes information on what you can do to help.

Click Here To Order The Rough Guide to Climate Change (Rough Guide Reference Series)