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       #Post#: 15--------------------------------------------------
       The Greenhouse Effect
       By: username101 Date: February 24, 2013, 5:11 am
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       The Greenhouse Effect
       Global warming is caused by an increase in the greenhouse
       effect. The greenhouse effect is not a bad thing by itself --
       it's what allows Earth to stay warm enough for life to survive.
       Although it's not a perfect analogy, you can think of the Earth
       sort of like your car sitting out in a parking lot on a sunny
       day. You've probably noticed that your car is always much hotter
       inside than the outside temperature if it's been sitting there
       for a while. The sun's rays enter through your car's windows.
       Some of the heat from the sun is absorbed by the seats, the
       dashboard and the carpeting and floor mats. When those objects
       release this heat, it doesn't all get out through the windows.
       Some is reflected back in. The heat radiated by the seats is a
       different wavelength than the light of the sun that made it
       through the windows in the first place. So a certain amount of
       energy is going in, and less energy is going out. The result is
       a gradual increase in the temperature inside your car.
       The greenhouse effect is a little more complicated than your hot
       car. When the sun's rays hit the Earth's atmosphere and the
       surface of the Earth, approximately 70 percent of the energy
       stays on the planet, absorbed by land, oceans, plants and other
       things. The other 30 percent is reflected into space by clouds,
       snow fields and other reflective surfaces [Source: NASA]. But
       even the 70 percent that gets through doesn't stay on earth
       forever (otherwise the Earth would become a blazing fireball).
       The Earth's oceans and land masses eventually radiate heat back
       out. Some of this heat makes it into space. The rest of it ends
       up getting absorbed when it hits certain things in the
       atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, methane gas and water vapor.
       After these components in our atmosphere absorb all this heat,
       they emit energy (also in the form of heat). The heat that
       doesn't make it out through Earth's atmosphere keeps the planet
       warmer than it is in outer space, because more energy is coming
       in through the atmosphere than is going out. This is all part of
       the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm.
       #Post#: 25--------------------------------------------------
       Re: The Greenhouse Effect
       By: jellyfied Date: March 7, 2013, 2:34 am
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       Hey nice explanation there ;D
       I was just going to add on that greenhouse gases (those
       CULPRITS!) are mainly, carbon dioxide (53%) , methane (17%) and
       nitrous oxide (12%)!
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