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Causes And Effects Of Global Warming

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Global Systems Assignment
Jordyn McFerran - Year 10 Science

The Causes and Effects of Global Warming

The Causes and Effects of Global Warming

Global warming is a term heard quite often in everyday life, however, many people are unaware of what it actually is, or its diverse causes and effects on the Earth. Global warming is a the gradual increase of the Earth’s average surface temperatures, as a result of the enhanced buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; such as carbon dioxide emissions present from burning fossil fuels. Our Earth’s atmosphere behaves like a greenhouse, although, trapping heat in a different way. Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane, act like a giant piece of glass wrapped around the planet. The sun’s rays pass straight through these greenhouse gases and heat the Earth, the Earth then gives off heat energy that radiates into space. A small amount of this heat does not pass out of the atmosphere and is reflected back towards the planet and effectively traps the heat we need to survive. This is called the natural greenhouse effect and without it, the Earth would not support the large diversity of life it needs to. This process is not something to be concerned about, however, the enhanced greenhouse effect is something we, as contributors, need be aware of.

In recent centuries, humans have been using energy in far greater quantities, and due to this, more carbon dioxide and methane emissions are

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