What is global
warming?
Global
warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises).
It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous
oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s
atmosphere, which increases the temperature.
This hurts many people, animals, and plants.
Many cannot take the change, so they die.
What is the
greenhouse effect?
The
greenhouse effect is when the temperature rises because the sun’s heat and
light is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere.
This is like when heat is trapped in a car. On a very hot day, the car
gets hotter when it is out in the parking lot.
This is because the heat and light from the sun can get into the car, by
going through the windows, but it can’t get back out.
This is what the greenhouse effect does to the earth.
The heat and light can get through the atmosphere, but it can’t get
out. As a result, the temperature rises.
The
sun’s heat can get into the car through the windows but is then trapped.
This makes what ever the place might be, a greenhouse, a car, a building,
or the earth’s atmosphere, hotter. This
diagram shows the heat coming into a car as visible light (light you can see)
and infrared light (heat). Once the
light is inside the car, it is trapped and the heat builds up, just like it does
in the earth’s atmosphere.
Sometimes
the temperature can change in a way that helps us.
The greenhouse effect makes the earth appropriate for people to live on.
Without it, the earth would be freezing, or on the other hand it would be
burning hot. It would be freezing
at night because the sun would be down. We
would not get the sun’s heat and light to make the night somewhat warm.
During the day, especially during the summer, it would be burning because
the sun would be up with no atmosphere to filter it, so people, plants, and
animals would be exposed to all the light and heat.
Although
the greenhouse effect makes the earth able to have people living on it, if there
gets to be too many gases, the earth can get unusually warmer, and many plants,
animals, and people will die. They
would die because there would be less food (plants like corn, wheat, and other
vegetables and fruits). This would
happen because the plants would not be able to take the heat.
This would cause us to have less food to eat, but it would also limit the
food that animals have. With less
food, like grass, for the animals that we need to survive (like cows) we would
even have less food. Gradually,
people, plants, and animals would all die of hunger.
What are
greenhouse gasses?
Greenhouse gasses are gasses are in
the earth’s atmosphere that collect heat and light from the sun.
With too many greenhouse gasses in the air, the earth’s atmosphere will
trap too much heat and the earth will get too hot. As a result people, animals, and plants would die because the
heat would be too strong.
What causes
global warming?
Many
things cause global warming. One
thing that causes global warming is electrical pollution.
Electricity causes pollution in many ways, some worse than others.
In most cases, fossil fuels are burned to create electricity.
Fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals.
Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum. Many pollutants (chemicals that pollute the air, water, and
land) are sent into the air when fossil fuels are burned. Some of these chemicals are called greenhouse gasses.
We
use these sources of energy much more than the sources that give off less
pollution. Petroleum, one of the
sources of energy, is used a lot. It
is used for transportation, making electricity, and making many other things.
Although this source of energy gives off a lot of pollution, it is used
for 38% of the United States’ energy.
What
are people doing to stop global warming?
People are doing many things to try
to stop global warming. One thing
people are doing is carpooling. Carpooling
is driving with someone to a place that you are both going to.
This minimizes the amount of greenhouse gases put into the air by a car.
Another thing that people are doing
is being more careful about leaving things turned on like the television,
computer, and the lights. A
lot of people are taking time away from the television, and instead, they are
spending more time outdoors. This
helps our planet out a lot. Now,
more people are even riding busses, walking to school, and riding their bikes to
lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the air.
Planting trees and recycling also helps.
If you recycle, less trash goes to the dump, and less trash gets burned.
As a result, there are fewer greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.
Watch
what you buy. Many things, such as
hairspray and deodorant, now are made to have less of an impact on the
atmosphere. Less greenhouse gasses
will rise into the air, and global warming will slow down.
Kid can help
stop global warming, too!!
Although adults do many things to
help stop global warming, kids can do just as much.
Kids can’t do hard things like making a law, but we can do easier
things like not watching as much TV. You
can listen to your parents when they say, turn off your lights or go play
outside. Listening to them and
actually trying to help can help you, your environment, and the world.
