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SAVING THE PLANET ONE PERSON AT A TIME! =THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT = = The greenhouse effect is a natural process that occurs on earth. Without it we would not be able to survive because of the extreme temperature changes during day and night. The green house effect is the process of solar radiation from the sun entering the earth’s atmosphere or reflecting off. Earth is surrounded by a layer of ozone that protects us from solar radiation. When solar radiation reaches earths ozone layer it either gets reflected off or passes through. The energy or heat that passes through will either be absorbed into the earth or reflected off the surface of the earth. The energy that is reflected off will either pass through the ozone layer again or be captured by the ozone layer and will remain on the earth. Without the greenhouse effect the heat from the sun would not stay on earth durring cold nights. Also without it there would be no pertection from the sun so it will be really hot durring the day. So without the greenhouse effect, we would not be able to surive on earth. =

GLOBAL WARMING: THE BIG PICTURE

 * We all know that without the Greenhouse effect we would not be able to survive here on earth. ** ** Then why is it bad? The roots of Global warming sometimes called Climate change are in the last step when the energy from the sun is either sent back to space or is captured by the ozone layer. Greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are responsible for capturing energy from the sun once it is reflected off the earth. The more of these gasses there are the more energy from the sun will remain on earth. We, being people, are starting to give off more and more of these greenhouse gasses as technology begins to increase. The amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere increasing dramatically over the normal level. Because there is so much more of these gasses in our atmosphere, more of the suns energy is being trapped on earth, heating it up. **


 * GLOBAL WARMING: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS **


 * The main cause of Global Warming is from an increased amount of Greenhouse gasses which include but is not limited to carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gasses are naturally in our atmosphere but the increase in human development is directly related to the amount of these gasses in our atmosphere. The main contributors of greenhouse gasses are from industry, transportation, residential, commercial, and agriculture. So as you can imagine, as countries and towns become more modernized the amount of these gasses increases dramatically. **




 * GLOBAL WARMING: LOCAL EFFECTS **
 * You may wonder why anyone cares that the earth is warming, what’s the big deal? As the earth starts to warm, the climate begins to change. Places around the world are seeing average temperatures increasing as much as 3-4 degrees centigrade. This change in the climate has many harmful effects. To start off, large concentrations of ice like glaciers and ice sheets are melting. They account for a huge amount of fresh water and, as they melt it is all dumped into the sea. This causes sea levels to rise and the concentration of salt to decrease. Rises in sea level are causing land close to sea level to disappear. Some low lying areas include the Alaskan peninsula, small flat islands, and costal regions like Florida, Long island, and Cape Cod. People ** ** living near the shore are being forced to move away, and in the long run can force almost two million Americans. In addition, the increased amount of fresh water is causing different species of fish, crustaceans and corals to die. Not only does this affect the different species in the ocean but on land as well. Communities that once depended on the ocean are now forced to find another source of food and income. Focused more locally, the amount of rainfall is decreasing, which accounts for a worse growing season and more forest fires. Forest fires destroy local habitats and houses. Local species are also suffering from the different climate and there numbers are decreasing. You are directly affected as well. With the increased greenhouse gas emissions the ozone layer is being destroyed. This allows more solar radiation to pass through which in turn increases your risk factor of radiation related cancers like melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Another effect directly related to us can could be the lost of land on the coast. Places like Plum Island, Cape Cod, and Boston could be gone within the next twenty years. The warmer climate is also a problem because it causes more storms to from. Hurricane season and getting worse and worse each year, and sooner or later New England will be hit again. In all global warming causes a lot of problems, and none of them are good. **




 * WHAT YOU CAN DO DIFFERENTLY: **
 * As an individual it’s hard to help prevent the effects of global warming but there are things that you can do to help fight back. First off, you can start by trying to reduce your carbon footprint, which is basically how much a measure of how much carbon you put into the atmosphere. There are hundreds of ways in which you can do this and it is mostly specific to the person. Major things that we do in our lives that contribute to global warming are using cars, using electricity and other things that are like that. Ways to reduce this would be to buy and energy efficient, or hybrid car. Instead to walking to school or work, walk or ride a bike. Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to use less electricity. You can do this simply by turning off lights when they are not in use, or using energy efficient light bulbs. Purchase “energy star” rated appliances, and unplugs anything that is not in use. On a more major scale you can try to make your home more energy efficient by converting it to solar or geothermal power depending on where you live. In addition, you can optimize the use of the sun in the winter for heat and use shades in the summer instead of a heater or A.C. Besides reducing your carbon footprint there are other things you can do. You can use less water when showering, washing dishes or watering plants. Also recycling paper and plastic is a great way to help fight global warming. Plastic has carbon in it and when we recycle it we don’t need to put that carbon from the plastic back in the atmosphere. You can also influence others to become “green” to. Encourage friends, family, your school, town or public building to become more energy efficient and help put and end to global warming for good. **

SO, JUST HOW GOOD ARE THEY? Switching to compact flourecent lightbulbs is not only good for the enviorment its also great for you. If everyone were to use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, that would prevent 90 billion tons of greenhouse gasses from being emited each year. Thats the equivilent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road. That great for the enviorment but its also good for you. For each compact fluorescent ligth bulb you use you save $30 in energy costs for each lifetime of the bulb. If have 50 lightbulbs in you house and you use all compact flourescent bulbs you save $1500 for each bulb lifetime. Thats a very green savings.**



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 * How to use and chose a Compact Flourecent Ligthtbulb**

**A BREIF SUMMARY:**
 * In conclusion, global warming is a very important issue and is a huge problem that needs to be addressed right away. The roots of global warming are in increased amounts of Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, which in turn are causing more energy from the sun to be trapped on earth, heating it up. These gasses are mainly carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, and are mainly given off from industrial processes, transportation and residential use. Global warming causes problems, like flooding, costal erosion, more hurricanes, skin cancer and causes some animal and plant species to die out. Different things to reduce these effects are to decrease your carbon footprint, use less water and recycle. **



BIBLIOGRAPHY ** = "http://www.chemie-im-alltag.de/english/articles/0024/." The greenhouse effect from a chemical point of view, 5/29/09 < [] > = = = = http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/exhibitgcc/causes03.jsp Science museum of the natural academy of sciences, Human activity and green house gasses 6/1/09  = = = = [], Global Warming Projections, 6/1/09 < http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Global_Warming_Predictions_Map_jpg> = = = = = = = = =