Moisture is far greater source than carbon dioxide.
2007-08-27 03:36:38
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answer #1
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answered by Ishan26 7
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from the site ..
The earth's atmospheric "greenhouse effect" is much more complex than the simple greenhouse experiment described in Activity 12. While the earth's temperature is dependent upon the greenhouse-like action of the atmosphere, the amount of heating and cooling are strongly influenced by several factors.
The type of surface that sunlight first encounters is the most important factor. Forests, grasslands, ocean surfaces, ice caps, deserts, and cities all absorb, reflect, and radiate radiation differently. Sunlight falling on a white glacier surface strongly reflects back into space, resulting in minimal heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Sunlight falling on a dark desert soil is strongly absorbed, on the other hand, and contributes to significant heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Cloud cover also affects greenhouse warming by both reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface and by reducing the amount of radiation energy emitted into space.
Scientists use the term albedo to define the percentage of solar energy reflected back by a surface. Understanding local, regional, and global albedo effects is critical to predicting global climate change.
The site then lists some of the factors that influence the earth's albedo.
2007-08-24 01:49:12
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answer #2
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answered by Indiana Frenchman 7
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"greenhouse effects" are the result of certain gasses which trap the sun's infrared energy and reflect it back to the ground. These gasses are carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and methane. Sulfur dioxide is produced by volcanos. Carbon dioxide is now being increased by the use of fossil fuels. Methane plays a minor role, but cattle produce a lot of it. The theory of global warming is based on the correlation between carbon dioxide increase and average global temperature. This seemed to start at the beginning of the industrial revolution in the late 18th century. Besides weather records, scientists can also measure climate effects in core samples from glaciers. The bands of ice represent snowfall dating back hundreds of years.
2007-08-24 01:53:39
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answer #3
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answered by Roger S 7
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Carbonic gas in the asmostphere absorbs infrared rays from the sun to the earth .It also absorbs radiation rays from the earth to the asmostphere and gets them back to the earth, this effect makes the earth is always warm even at night (when the sun doesn't radiate light and heat).
If the carbonic gas content in the asmostphere is stable, the temperature of the earth will be stable, too. But nowadays, people establish many factories, industrial parks,....and many things like that, so the content of carbonic gas in the asmostphere is growing rapidly and the balance of the energy exchange between the earth and the sun broke.
Not only carbonic gas causes the green house effect but also CFC( from fridges, air-conditioners,...), NO (nitrogen monoxid) cause this effect.
2007-08-24 04:39:46
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answer #4
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answered by jeremy 1
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Here are some links I researched for one of my blog entries - hope this helps:
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
An Inconvenient Truth
http://www.climatecrisis.net/blog/
Additional Truth info
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.html
Kyoto Protocol
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/akyotoqa.asp
A few questions and answers about the Protocol
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/globalwarming/
US alternative
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/278.html
Plain English info on Protocol
http://www.earthday.org/default.aspx
2007-08-24 01:51:28
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answer #5
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answered by oneharrigan 2
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