met
hane, carbon dioxide, nit
rogen oxide and CFCs t
rap heat
in t
he at
mosphere by act
ing as a pane of glass in a car. �The glass� let
s t
he sun light
in t
o make heat
but
when t
he heat
t
ries t
o get
out
t
he gases absorb t
he heat
. Holding t
his heat
in causes heat
waves, drought
s and climat
e changes which could alt
er our way of living. The main gases t
hat
cause t
he greenhouse effect
are wat
er vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), and met
hane which comes mainly from animal manure. Ot
her gases like nit
rogen oxide and man made gases called chloroflurocarbons get
caught
in t
he at
mosphere as well. The decay of animals and respirat
ion are t
wo main but
nat
ural sources of carbon dioxide. In my opinion we people of t
he whole world should t
ry and slow down t
he emmission of greenhouse gases and/or find ways t
o balance t
he gases so t
he climat
e doesn't
change so rapidly. If it
did we would be forced t
o adapt
t
o t
he new climat
e t
hat
we brought
upon our selves. If we had a int
ernat
ional cooperat
ion t
o put
a damper on t
he product
ion of chloroflurocarbons and slowed down t
he use of fossil fuels it
would dramat
ically slow down t
he process of "global warming." Over t
he last
100 years t
he global t
emperat
ures have been increasing slowly but
st
eadily. Since 1980 t
he t
emperat
ure has risen 0.2 degrees C (0.4 degrees F ) each decade. Scient
ist
s predict
t
hat
if we cont
inue put
t
ing t
he same amount
of gas int
o t
he at
mosphere by t
he year 2030 t
he t
emperat
ure will be rising as much as 0.5 degrees C (0.9 degrees F ) or more per decade. Over all t
he global t
emperat
ure could rise anywhere from 5 t
o 9 degrees over t
he next
fift
y years. If t
he t
emperat
ures do rise as predict
ed several t
hings could happen. The increases of t
emperat
ure could alt
er t
he growt
h of crops in areas near t
he equat
or due t
o insufficient
rain and heat
. This could really hurt
count
ries t
hat
rely on import
ed food. Wit
h t
he high t
emperat
ures t
he polar ice caps could melt
and cause t
he sea wat
er level t
o go up 1 t
o 3 feet
. This increase could t
ake out
small islands, coast
al cit
ies and some shallow rivers. The Everglades in Florida would be almost
if not
t
ot
ally wiped right
off t
he map. The Everglades is t
he home for many animals and plant
life. If it
did get
flooded, t
hey would all have t
o move nort
hward across very dry land which t
hey will not
be able t
o endure for very long. When t
he hot
t
emperat
ures do spread sout
hward and nort
hward, t
ropical disease will spread wit
h it
. Disease t
hat
were down in Mexico will maybe occur in The Carolinas or event
ually Vermont
. These new diseases will be hard t
o deal wit
h causing many more deat
hs and illnesses t
han before. The financial problem wit
h t
his is, t
hat
t
he flooding will cause dams t
o be built
and cit
ies t
o be reconst
ruct
ed. The short
age of food will cause t
he price of t
he food t
o go up and wit
h all t
he diseases we will need more medical supplies and workers. All of t
his combined could and will cost
a lot
of money if we don't
do somet
hing about
it
now. The comput
er models can�t
predict
exact
ly what
t
he climat
e is going t
o be in t
he fut
ure, but
t
hey can come close t
o what
it
will be like down t
he road. Scient
ist
s proved t
his by predict
ing wit
h comput
ers what
t
he climat
e was in t
he past
. Then by looking back in records, t
hey found t
hat
t
he predict
ions were close t
o being right
. The "Topex" (Topographic Experiment
) sat
ellit
e has been collect
ing informat
ion on t
he changes of t
he sea level, and t
emperat
ures across t
he globe and t
he amount
of gases emit
t
ed int
o t
he at
mosphere. Each day t
he sat
ellit
e makes 500,000 measurement
s, each at
a different
place on t
he eart
h. Measurement
s are all made bet
ween 66 degrees nort
h and sout
h lat
it
udes.1 The Cret
aceous occurred over 100 million years ago. It
was t
he warmest
period we have knowledge of yet
. There was so much carbon dioxide in t
he air t
hat
t
he oceans rose many met
ers. Nort
h America was flooded and split
apart
int
o t
wo pieces. The t
emperat
ure t
hen was more t
han fift
een degrees great
er t
han t
he average t
emperat
ure t
oday. Scient
ist
s believe t
hat
t
he t
ilt
of t
he eart
h's axis changes t
o t
ilt
t
he opposit
e way every 10,000 years like a cycle. While going t
hrough t
his cycle it
will change t
he climat
e of areas. Right
now it
is moving so t
hat
Nort
h America is going t
o be close t
o t
he sun in t
he wint
er. Seasons become more ext
reme when t
he opposit
e happens. This cont
rols t
he cycle of ice ages. Volcanoes when t
hey erupt
, send clouds of dust
int
o t
he air blocking sunlight
. This would cool t
he eart
h off more. Oceans are known t
o absorb CO2 because of t
he ocean current
s and t
he act
ion of plankt
on. There is some evidence t
hat
t
here is nat
urally rapid climat
e change bet
ween each Ice Age, which confuses t
he whole global warming and idea. I t
hink every human being should t
ake part
in t
he fight
t
o st
op global warming. The government
is t
he key t
o t
his and t
hey bet
t
er do somet
hing soon or it
will be t
oo lat
e. First
, t
he American government
should sponsor a meet
ing bet
ween t
he nat
ions of t
his world. They should est
ablish a commit
t
ee for handling t
he money, polit
ics, and scient
ific research in order t
o help cut
back t
he emission of gases int
o t
he at
mosphere. Every count
ry will cont
ribut
e by donat
ing money. Each count
ry would be required t
o give 0.01 of t
heir GNP t
o t
his commit
t
ee. If t
hey refuse t
hey will be boycot
t
ed and not
hing will be sold t
o t
hem by t
he part
icipat
ing count
ries. Global warming is a big t
hreat
t
o our nat
ion and t
he world. If we do not
act
now, it
may be t
oo lat
e. Of course, t
here is no sure way of t
elling if t
here act
ually is a greenhouse effect
, but
let
�s not
t
ake any chances. Look at
what
is happening t
o t
his world, and you will see t
hat
t
here is a pollut
ion problem. There are st
eps being t
aken at
t
his moment
t
o reduce t
he gases put
int
o t
he air but
it
st
ill isn't
enough. We need t
o cut
back more by t
aking a few easy st
eps. Plant
a t
ree, or t
ake a bus t
o work inst
ead of driving your own car. Those t
hings may not
seem like a lot
, but
if more and more people do it
, it
will make a difference.