how do greenhouse gases contribute to climate change?

Answer 1

some of the green house gases are carbon dioxide,methane etc.they trap the haet froom the sum this being the reason why earth supports such lot of life.when the proprtion of these green house gases increases in the atmosphere it results in climatic changes like the polar ice melting etc

Answer 2

I'm no expert but here is what I think happens.

The gases act as a green house. In a green house, heat enters it in the form of radiation. That is in the form of light. When this radiation hits something it heats it up. That is the surface of the earth, cars, roads, trees and what not heat up. The thing is that this energy is again expelled but this time not in the form of radiation but through other means like convection and conduction. Convection is heat transfer through the motion of fluids. For example, a hair dryer is a form of convection., It moves hot air to your hair. Conduction means through the contact of solids. For example you stove heats up a pot and boils water. The thing is like in a green house this heat cannot escape through the atmosphere because the green houses gases like methane and carbon dioxside is trapping it in. Thus the earth heats up. Well, the atmosphere heats up. The overall temperature raises. This in turn can cause many changes for example, the melting of the ice cap. If the icecaps on land melts the water levels around the world could raise about 3 feet. Now, 3 feet may not sound like much but consider the width of all the world beaches. Thats a lot of water. Also, glasiers and such are a source of drinkable water. Those could be gone too. So, the main effect is less land and less drinkable water. Also, if it gets too hot, some crops won't grow as well so there is the risk of starvation because we will have too many people but not enough food. Then you will have massive migrations from areas that are too cold or too hot to more moderate climates. As you can see it will create havoc. Scientist also think that all that extra fesh water could change the heat flow in the oceans. There is this belt like system that circulates hot water to the north and other cold areas and then back. So, it acts like a radiator. If that flow of hot water stops then there is nothing to heat those waters so ice can spread further south. End result is another ice age. Again an ice age brings its own problem. Lack of food and the use of extra resources. For example more people would have to use more oil to heat up their homes (or wood or electricity depending on your system). Is a bad thing socially. I think that as resources become more scarse you will see many countries fighting with eachother to secure their supplies. Remember there will be left of everything so if two countries are competing for only one item then at some point somebody will be willing to kill for it. Also, you may have shift in power. You may have a resource that nobody else has or doesn't have enough of. So, you decide not to share or make it so expensive that only a few could afford. Problem is that the rest of the world will get mad and start a war plus the ones that can afford it may decide that taking the resource by force is cheaper than paying overprice.

Answer 3

One of the big contributers are bolvine farts (believe it or don't)(2). The next biggest is the burn off of methane and natural gases from oil discoverys.(1) Then industry (3), then transportation(4). 2 and 3 might be mixed up but I always heard of that being a #2 thing. A funny thing is tho, the particles of pollution are slowing the greenhouse effect. This is called progress. I do drive a toyota prius.

Answer 4

Some gases ("greenhouse gases") let sunlight in, which warms the Earth, and then block that heat from leaving. That's the "greenhouse effect", and it's a natural thing, mostly caused by water vapor.

Man is making excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, mostly by burning fossil fuels. That causes the delicate natural balance to go out of whack and the Earth warms. That's global warming.

It won't be a Hollywood style disaster. Gradually coastal areas will flood and agriculture will be damaged. But it will be very bad. Rich countries will cope, but it will take huge amounts of money. In poor countries many people will die of starvation, but not all of them.

Most scientists say, in 20-50 years. But we need to start right now to fix it, fixing it will take even longer than that.

Really good website for more information here:

http://profend.com/global-warming/

Lots of numerical scientific data proving it real here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Climate_Change_Attribution.png
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

Proof that most scientists think it's real and mostly caused by us here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686

Answer 5

The fact is that every gas acts this way more or less. If the earth had no atmosphere, it would be very cold at night.

By far the most effective greenhouse gas is water vapor. You might even notice that a cloudy night might be warmer than a similar cloudless night.

The thing is, what controls cloud creation?

Global warming is a scam. Temperature rise precedes co2 increases in the ice core record. Al Gore is not a scientist, he is a political operative, an opportunist and a hypocrite. The science is not settled and the debate is not over.

Ask yourself:
What changed to melt the last ice age?
Why is Mars and Venus warming similarly to earth right now?
Why was there a cooling trend from the 50's to the 70's?

Answer 6

it fairly is an attractive notion. based on the object, which became somewhat short on info, i might rank my selection (consistent with effectiveness of reducing emissions) in this order (suitable to worst): a million) carbon fee (cap and commerce or tax, i don't have a call) 2) national sparkling potential in many cases happening 3) EPA GHG regulation 4) no longer something the only reason the national sparkling potential in many cases happening may be finest to a carbon pricing device for my section is that if we ought to truly get it carried out from a political viewpoint (via fact that cap and commerce and carbon taxes are going nowhere in the close to destiny). yet in accordance to the object, this plan could be even much less common among policymakers than cap and commerce. you will see why consistent with jim's answer - in reality something new or "eco-friendly" or "liberal" is straight away antagonistic by the awesome wingnuts, who in straightforward terms care approximately conserving the status quo.

Answer 7

I'm not totally buying this issue as it is being jammed down our throats by all kinds of wacko nut job groups and our own government which lacks terribly in the trust department.
Our own federal govt has been using the EPA for several decades to "control" the people and it is getting worse all the time.
The Living God is BIGGER than any man, and all men are liars. That is DIRECTLY from scripture itself, and I do believe that! God has a purpose for this change and man CANNOT do anything to stop it.

Answer 8

CO2 acts as an insulator once it reaches the Ozone

the sun's rays(heat) hits the surface of the earth and into space....but the CO2 in our atmosphere acts like a wool sweater keeping the heat in