According to global warming theory, if an enhanced greenhouse effect (from increased levels of CO2 or indeed any other greenhouse gas) is responsible for warming the earth, then the rate of temperature rise should be greatest in that part of the earth’s atmosphere known as the troposphere, specifically in the tropics. And yet the observations, from weather balloons and satellites have consistently shown that not to be the case. I urge readers to look at the Christy et al papers below. The latest one was recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research (2007). This may seem like a rather technical issue, but it strikes at the very heart of the theory of man made global warming.

Fossil fuels like methane and carbon dioxide trap heat near the surface, a process known as the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon, but human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, can pour enormous volumes of these gases into the atmosphere, raising the planet's temperature and destabilizing the climate. (Watch what happens to our planet when manmade emissions get trapped in the atmosphere )

This is like taking 6.3 million cars off the road!

Small gaps in your windows and doors can cause you to consume a lot more energy than you really need to in order to heat and cool your home.

Carbon dioxide contributes about twelve percent of the greenhouse effect, while water vapor contributes thirty six percent of the greenhouse effect. Methane causes five to ten percent of Global Warming, while Ozone makes around three to seven percent of the greenhouse effect possible.

sixty years

Global warming is the long-term, cumulative effect that greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, have on Earth's temperature when they build up in the atmosphere and trap the sun's heat. It's also a hotly debated topic. Some wonder if it's really happening and, if it's real, is it the fault of human actions, natural causes or both?

1. Polar ice caps meltingThe ice caps melting is a four-pronged danger.First, it will raise sea levels. There is 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not going to happen. But sea levels will rise.Second, melting ice caps will screw up the global ecosystem. The ice caps are fresh water, and when they melt into the ocean, they make it less salty, or desalinize the ocean. The desalinization of the gulf current will screw up, to put it simply, the current. It will cool the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area. But with the stream shutdown, the whole Atlantic ecosystem could be warped.Third, all the animals in the Arctic will be in danger because of a changing habitat.Fourth, global warming will accelerate with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight. Some of that sunlight is reflected back into space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps are melted, only the dark-colored ocean will be there. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further warming the Earth.

Causes

Effects

Temperature changes

The main cause of global warming is our treatment of Nature

Reasons for Global Warming Global warming can be minimized to a great extent, if we eliminate the causes which are mostly human made. The responsibility of preventing global warming rests both on individual as well as the state. In individual level we can change our practices such as minimize the usage of fossil based fuel, reduce the electricity consumption by using energy efficient appliances. Vehicular pollution can be minimized by using the public transport system. The nucleus goal is to beget the global warming under control by restricting the carbon dioxide release and other heat ensnaring greenhouse gases into the environment. On an average nearly 10000 pounds of carbon dioxide is released per year in significant countries like Canada and US. This can be immediately curtailed by becoming energy efficient. Reducing the usage of oil, coal and gasoline are one of the effective ways of preventing global warming.

In 2002 about 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions stem from the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. Coal accounts for 93 percent of the emissions from the electric utility industry. US Emissions Inventory 2004 Executive Summary p. 10 Coal emits around 1.7 times as much carbon per unit of energy when burned as does natural gas and 1.25 times as much as oil. Natural gas gives off 50% of the carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, released by coal and 25% less carbon dioxide than oil, for the same amount of energy produced. Coal contains about 80 percent more carbon per unit of energy than gas does, and oil contains about 40 percent more. For the typical U.S. household, a metric ton of carbon equals about 10,000 miles of driving at 25 miles per gallon of gasoline or about one year of home heating using a natural gas-fired furnace or about four months of electricity from coal-fired generation.