envimr

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__**Our Earth**__ ======

= THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT =

The greenhouse effect occurs when solar radiation from the sun is absorbed into the earths crust. Some of the radiation is absorbed and readmitted by green house gas molecules. Some of the solar radiation escapes but some is readmitted into the earth’s surface. This effect keeps the earth warm. Without the green house the earth’s atmospheres would be 60 degrees cooler. It would be so cold that we wouldn’t be able to live on earth. The greenhouse gases are nitrogen, oxygen and trace gases. Oxygen takes up 21% of the earth’s atmosphere. Nitrogen takes up 78% of the earth’s atmosphere. Trace gases take up less than 1% of the green house gases. But when there are more of the trace gases it gets hotter which I will tell you about in the next section.

[[image:GreenhouseEffectpicture.jpg]]
More and more trace gases make the earth warmer. Gases like CO2, methane and nitrous oxide are some trace gases that make global warming. Trace gases keep the suns heat in the earth’s atmosphere. Deforestation, CFCs. Oil and petroleum engines, and burning fossil fuels are some of the ways that make global warming happen. This would make more trace gases and the earth will warm up. Because of global warming sea levels will rise and the global temperature will be higher. The temperature being higher will melt the ice caps and could kill and extinct a lot of animals. The ice caps melting will cause sea levels to rise and towns on the coast to be destroyed. It would also make people skiing less because mountains will be warmer and there would be less snow for skiing.

GLOBAL WARMING: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS These are what cause most of global warming. The worst is the power stations that power our homes. We should burn less fossil fuel for power. We can use solar energy and wind power instead. Fossil fuels are not renewable and will be gone in a number of years. We should use more solar power and wind energy because that will reduce a lot of carbon emissions. Making things in factories also release a lot of carbon emissions. But we can use solar and wind power for energy and that will reduce the factories carbon emissions. The factories will burn fossil fuels to power the plant but instead they can use wind or solar power. If we used wind or solar energy then it would make less carbon emissions and slow down global warming.

**GLOBAL WARMING: LOCAL EFFECTS**

If global warming happens like this prediction then animals and plants will become extinct because of the rise in temperature. The rise in temperature would melt the ice caps and will kill animals. Then sea levels will rise and flood cities like Boston. In our town, Reading, people from Boston would move here and move to other places in Massachusetts. That will also get rid of goods that come from other cities in Europe. Other cities in the country would also flood and people will move farther into the country. We would also get more rain and less snow. Hotter weather also will hurt the fishing industry because fish would move to colder waters to the north.

**WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE CAN DO DIFFERENTLY: **

We can use CFL’s to reduce carbon emissions. CFL’s are compact florescent bulbs. That use a quarter of a regular bulbs energy to use. Some CFLs cost as little as 79 cents. Because electricity sends out 40% of the USA’s CO2 then using these bulbs would lower this around 10% because it would be a quarter of 40%. That would reduce tons of CO2. If the town Williamstown makes every householder installs 5 CFLs then that would reduce 3 million pounds of CO2 admissions. If every one in the USA or state then that would reduce way more than 1 town and reduce global warming by a lot. By using CFLs then we can reduce a lot of CO2. We could also use wind power instead of burning fossil fuels. We can put wind farms even in the ocean. That would get rid of burning fossil fuel stations on land and would reduce a lot of CO2 emissions. We can also put solar panels on our houses. In the short term it would cost a lot of money but after a few years or something then it would help a lot and you would be saving a lot of money. 

 The green house effect is from solar radiation from the sun that warms the earth’s surface and by reducing greenhouse emissions like CO2 the climate won’t get hotter. Deforestation, using CFCs, and oil create greenhouse emissions that warm up the earth. Power stations use a lot of fossil fuels and by harnessing wind power then that would reduce a lot of green house emissions. If we use energy efficient bulbs that would reduce a lot of green house emissions. Also using solar panels and putting them on houses is a good idea because it reduces the energy we use from power plants and saves us money.
 * A SUMMARY OF YOUR RESEARCH **

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Hank Art190 Scott Hill Road, Williamstown597-2461 (W)458-8300 (H) HArt@williams.edu Stephanie Boyd Tom Ennis167 Longview Terrace, Williamstown458-3105 tomennis@roadrunner.com Amy Johns975 N. Hoosac Road, Williamstown458-2248 woobat@gmail.com Tim Kaiser675 Simonds Road, Williamstown458-9345 tkaiser@williamstown.net Betsy Kolbert326 Oblong Road, Williamstown458-8463 bkolbert@adelphia.net Pat McLeodMilne Public Library1095 Main Street, Williamstown458-5369 pmcleod@williamstown.net Nancy Nylen1214 Northwest Hill Road, Williamstown458-5688 nnylen@williams.edu Wendy Penner428 Stratton Road, Williamstown458-4708 wendypenner@hotmail.com Richard Steege Mike Tillou37 Lee Terrace, Williamstown458-9870 (W)458-7979 (H) [|//http://www.arbeitssprache-englisch.com/environment/global_warming/global_warming.htm//] © Copyright 2008 by [|English Across the Curriculum] 21 Sep 2006, 20:07 Zhou Fang
 * BIBLIOGRAPHY **
 * http://coolwilliamstown.org/?page_id=2 **
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