Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is a natural process on Earth that allows our planet to heat up by the sun.  The sun heats the Earth and is responsible for all of the incoming heat for our planet.  From clouds, ice, and snow, some of the heat is reflected back into space.  The clouds will also scatter some of the heat while others will trap it in the sky. Greenhouse gasses are gasses that help take in and release heat from the atmosphere. The more greenhouse gases in the air, such as carbon dioxide from car exhaust, the more difficult it is for heat to escape Earth.  With less heat escaping Earth, the temperature could get higher over time.  The rest of the heat energy that is not reflected or absorbed by clouds or greenhouse gasses is mostly absorbed by the Earth’s surface, while a small portion is reflected back into the atmosphere.

There are two different ways that greenhouse gases are created as well.  Some are natural on Earth and are what allow people to live here.  Things like carbon dioxide and ozone are naturally in our air.  These are good because they heat the planet enough for life.  On the other hand there are human enhanced greenhouse effects that take place.  This is cause by a lot of people using their cars or burning coal, which releases more gases into the air.  This means that there are more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to trap the heat.  With more heat being trapped in the atmosphere there could be a rise in temperature.

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Illustration of the greenhouse effect.  As the sun radiates heat energy to the Earth a series of absorptions and reflections of the energy take place.  The atmosphere along with clouds reflects some energy back into space.  Other energy is absorbed by the earth.  Different activities, such as deforestation, the use of fossil fuels, and the release of greenhouse gases causes for more energy to get trapped in the atmosphere and heat the Earth.