Global Warming: What Does Our Future Hold?

             During the course of the twentieth century, many environmental scientists have become increasingly confident that the average global temperature has elevated. Although global warming is still a highly controversial theory, the facts have compelled scientists, politicians, and the environmentally-conscious to take a closer look at the statistics. Periodic global warming conferences take place around the world to discuss various environmental topics. Global warming is taking precedence at these conferences due to the effects that global warming is having upon our atmosphere, climate, and sea level (The Committee for the National Institute for the Environment, Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases). Global warming directly affects human beings and the earth's ecosystem. If global warming continues at the rate that is predicted, the effects could be catastrophic to the world we live in today.
             What is global warming? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) summarizes global warming in simple terms. Global warming is related to the natural function of the earth's atmosphere and its ability to retain heat, the "greenhouse effect." The "greenhouse effect" is a necessary operation for earth's ecosystem, which provides acceptable standards for habitation on earth. When the sun warms the earth's surface, the earth radiates this heat back into space. The atmospheric greenhouse gases trap some of this heat. Without the "greenhouse effect," the average temperature of the earth would be much lower than the comfortable average temperature of 60 *F (The Climate System). However, it has been reported that the principal greenhouse gases, or heat-trapping gases, are partially accountable for global warming. These greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Scientists believe that increased use of fossil fuels and human activity is partly responsible for changing the composition of the earth's atmosphere. The EPA...

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Global Warming: What Does Our Future Hold?. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:21, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/46209.html