envicr

= Global warming and you! = = = = THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT = The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process. The Greenhouse Effect is GOOD. It is what warms the earth and the atmosphere. Light from the sun travels to the Earth and some of it gets reflected off of the atmosphere. The rest travels to the Earth. The Earth absorbs the heat. It then re-emits the heat. Some of this heat travels into space, but some of it is reflected back into the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere. This is what keeps the earth at a relatively small temperature range.



GLOBAL WARMING: THE BIG PICTURE
Global warming is the gradual warming of the earth’s average temperatures. It is caused by excess amounts of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. It increases the intensity of The Greenhouse Effect. But once again, The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming are related, but different.

There are many factors that cause the excess amounts of greenhouse gasses. The main contributors are power stations, industrialized process; emissions caused by transportation, agricultural byproducts, fossil fuel processing, residential and commercial use, biomass burning, and waste disposal and treatment. Burning anything creates greenhouse gasses. Most of these factors use some sort of energy, this was most likely made by burning something.
 * GLOBAL WARMING: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS **

Global warming affects everyone. It affects us locally by increasing temperatures. This causes places that were normally cold, to have an increase in temperature. This causes snow, ice, glaciers, and the ice caps slowly melt. All water eventually flows to the sea. This causes water levels to rise. As the water gets higher, places that are usually not exposed to erosion by the sea, places suddenly start eroding at very rapid rates. Cities like Boston, that live close to the ocean, may be forced to move or will simply be destroyed. This may cause a loss of jobs, a sudden increase of population inland, or devastation. If a city is forced to move, then there may not be enough resources to support that sudden increase in population. Also, severe weather changes may occur. For example, hurricanes need warm water and moist warm air to form. As of right now the oceans around New England don’t have that, but if global warming continues then that may be true. New England isn’t prepared for a hurricane strike. If a hurricane is able to form it will. Water temperatures will also rise, making the threat of a hurricane much more likely. Even just a slight increase in temperature could be potentially deadly.
 * GLOBAL WARMING: LOCAL EFFECTS **

There are many ways to lessen the effects of global warming. However I propose we use alternative forms of transportation. Things like electrical cars, riding the train or bus instead of taking a person al car. People could also purchase things that are made locally so companies don’t have to ship things around the world. Electric cars are nearly the same as gas guzzlers in terms of speed and power. They only take a couple of cents of electricity to charge them, and they emit no greenhouse gasses. The only waste they produce comes from the charging of the car. But even that could be obtained from solar panels, windmills, geothermal, hydro, or nuclear power. Each one of these is much more efficient. They also are currently available to us. We don’t have to develop new technologies to get these. If they are available to us then we should use them. If wind turbines were set up on less than 1% of land area, they could produce 20% of the United States energy demands. That would mean the United States would use 2,258,600,000 tons of coal less each year. Hydro power is also a very reliable alternative form of energy. It is easy to raise awareness of global warming and just as easy to try and get windmills, dams, or other renewable energy sources built.
 * WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE CAN DO DIFFERENTLY: One specific area of focus **


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A SUMMARY OF YOUR RESEARCH ** Once again, the greenhouse effect is good for us. But global warming is bad for us. If we don’t change our ways, we could be stuck in some serious trouble. I propose that people consider renewable energy sources more. They can lessen our in-efficient energy demands if not demolish them completely. Renewable energy sources also don’t produce any toxic emissions. They are also cost effective, paying for themselves in savings within a couple of months.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY ** "Coal demand."EIA-__Energy Information Administration.__ October 2008. June 4, 2009 [] " Alternative Energy ." __Alternative Energy____. __ June 4, 2009 < http://www.altenergy.org/ > Author's name(if given). "The Greenhouse Effect." __INECC.__. June 4, 2009< []>

andrian09. "Greenhouse Effect."__Andrian09’s Blog.__ December 27, 2008. June 5, 2009 < http://andrian09.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/greenhouse-effect-2/ > . " Ovenden Moor Wind Farm ." __Ovenden Moor Wind Farm____. __ June 5, 2009< http://www.bronte-country.com/ovenden-moor-wind-farm.html >