GREENHOUSE EFFECT   

Inside this Newsletter                 

GREENHOUSE EFFECT    

    Hi, my name is Star Munoz and I wrote this article to inform you on what has been occurring to the earth.  The earth has been effected by the greenhouse effect.  The greenhouse effect is the warming of the planet and its lower atmosphere caused by trapped solar radiation: solar short-wave radiation easily penetrates tot he planet where it is reradiated into the atmosphere as warmer, longer long waves that are readily absorbed by carbon dioxide, water vapor, etc., thus trapping hear.  Here is a picture of this occurrence.

 www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/images/diagrampage.html

DIFFERENT RESEARCH BEING DONE TO HELP THE EARTH

    There are many different types of research being done by different groups, with different views, to help save the earth.  There are like it's said, the hawks and the doves.  The hawks are the people who will do just about anything to help out with what is going on.  The doves are the people who blame the things that are occurring, to natural causes, or who say that if we help, it will still be the same.  There are many programs who are here to help the earth and these are some examples of these programs, the hawks.  There are Greenpeace, the Global Atmospheric Change Program, the Climate Modeling Program, and the Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks Programs.  One of the doves is a man named Andrew Darby.  He thinks that the greenhouse effect isn't so bad after all.  He says  that the problem with the greenhouse effect is how the earth was formed, and how it will keep on forming.  So, as you can see, there are two sides to this issue.

TYPES OF GASES INVOLVED & THEIR SOURCES

    The gases involved in the greenhouse effect are, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, halocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor, and ozone.  These gases are all in the atmosphere.  The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing by 0.4% because of the use of fossil fuels.  Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas.  It's a huge reason why humid regions ex[erience less cooling at night than do dry regions.  These gases keep ground temperatures as a global average of about 15 degrees Celsius or 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  Without these gases the average temperature would be below freezing point of water.

TRENDS OF GAS LEVELS OVER PAST 250 YEARS

    For the past number of years, the trends of gas levels have changed.  In 1896, it was said that carbon dioxide helped stop the sun's infrared radiation from escaping into space.  Also, the total amount of carbon dioxide present in the earth's atmosphere remained nearly constant until the 20th century.  Through the years, numerous scientists have stated that the rise in global temperatures in the 1980's and the 1990's is a result of the greenhouse effect.  In a report issued in 1990 by the Intergovernmental  Panel on Climate Change, there was a warning that the greenhouse effect could continue to increase.  They were right!

HOW MAUNA LOA IS A PART OF THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT       

    Mauna Loa is a massive active volcano that occupies most of the south central part of Hawaii Island.  When this volcano erupts, it shoots many gases from inside the earth, into the atmosphere.  I went to see Mauna Loa for myself and it was a grand site.  During my stay in Hawaii, I met two scientist who were there to study the volcano.  One of the scientists names was Ms. Val Cano, and other's was Ms. Mona Lo.  When I asked Ms Cano what her thoughts on the subject of greenhouse effect were, she said, " I believe that the increased gas levels as a result of pollution caused this global warming or greenhouse effect as you call it."  When I asked the same question to Ms. Lo, I got a totally different answer.  Ms. Lo said, "I believe that the so-called "greenhouse effect" is caused by Mother Nature.  I think that even if there were no humans on this earth, it would still be happening."  She is what we call, a dove.  As you can see, the two scientists have different views on this subject.  

MY PREDICTION ON THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

    Well, my prediction is that if we don't do something to help the earth soon, there will be no more earth to help.  I think that if the greenhouse effect keeps increasing, then it's going to become worse than it already is.  Some scientists believe that as the greenhouse effect is intensified, long-term climatic changes on the earth will result.  If this is true, it should occur at the turn of the century.  Also, global average temperatures will project an increase of as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. 

WRITTEN BY STAR MUNOZ

*I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my article, and I hope that you are more informed about what is happening to our planet.*