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Fearsome Global Warming
On June 19, 2008, Kenya broke a heat record, reaching 3.5 degrees Celsius above normal. Over the last eight years many places around the world have broken heat temperature records, as temperatures have soared higher than ever since records have been kept. As carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases have collected in the atmosphere, they have trapped the sun's heat, causing the planet to warm up, increasing the greenhouse effect.
The greenhouse effect is the effect produced when greenhouse emissions allow incoming solar radiation to pass through the Earth's atmosphere, but prevent some of the outgoing infrared radiation from the surface and lower atmosphere from escaping into outer space. This process occurs naturally and has kept the Earth's temperature about 60 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it would otherwise have been.
Greenhouse gases are any gas that absorbs infra-red radiation in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), halogenated fluorocarbons (HCFCs), ozone (O3), per fluorinated carbons (PFCs), and hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs). The build-up of carbon dioxide is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels to produce energy for factories, transportation, and power plants, and is made worse by increasing deforestation. Methane being released from the sea as it warms up and also contributes to the greenhouse effect. Methane also has many other sources like: landfills, corn, and cows.
There are many signs of global warming. These include: melting of permafrost, of glaciers, the raising sea level, and unpredictable and more intense storms. All are indicators that demonstrate the reality of global warming. Permafrost is soil at or below the freezing point of water (0 C or 32 F) for two or more years. As permafrost in Alaska and Canada begins to melt, many roads and even houses start to become unstable because they sink and warp.
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