Stop Ozone Depletion!
Introduction to Ozone Depletion:
Since the late 19th century, the Earth has been experiencing signifaicant changes in its climate. Global temperatures have been rising. There have been also many reports of droughts, floods and storms throughout the world. In 1985, scientists discovered that there was a hole in the Earth's ozone layer above Antarctica. They believed that these changes to the Earth's climate, as erll as the hole in the ozone layer, have been caused by human activities.
Greenhouse effect:
The Earth is surrounded by a layer of gases, known as the atmosphere. The atmosphere is necessary to all life on the Earth. Some of the Sun's rays pass through the atmosphere and are reflected by the Earth's surface. The gases in the Earth's atmosphere, trap some of the heat from these rays and keep it in, thus warming the Earth's surface and to the lower atmosphere. Without these gases, the heat would be lost to outer space.
The gases in the atmosphere that trap the heat from the Sun's rays are known as greenhouse gases. They include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's).
Some of the gases are found naturally in the atmosphere. Examples of some of them are carbon dioxide, water vapour and methane. Carbon dioxide is realeased into the air by living things during respiration, while water vapour is produced by the evaporation and transpiration in plants. In swampy places, the bacteria living in the soil breaks down in the living matter and realeases methane.
The process therefore is called the greenhouse effect. The atmosphere performs the same function as a greenhouse, which is used to maintain a warm temperature for plants to grow.
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that helps make our Earth a warm and comfortable place to live in. It maintains the Earth's temperature at about 15 degrees Celsius. Without the greenhouse gases, the Earth's average temperature would be almost 33 degrees Celsius lower and it would be too cold for most living things.
Last updated: 24/6/10 6.54 p.m (+8 GMT)
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