|
Carbon
Dioxide: Temperature Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is responsible for 55% of the greenhouse effect. This is because it is very effective as a greenhouse gas, and there is a lot of it in the atmosphere. The sun's light energy is able to pass through the atmospheric CO2 to the earth's surface. When the light reflects off Earth's surface, it is transformed into long wave radiation. Atmospheric CO2 absorbs the long wave radiation and emits it in all directions, including back toward Earth. In recent years, the concentration of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere has steadily increased. An increase in the concentration of such a powerful greenhouse gas may lead to an imbalance between the greenhouse effect and the processes that cool Earth. The result could be a net increase in the earth's average temperature.
Overview
..|..
Temperature
..|..
Precipitation
..|..
Plants
Home ..|.. Teacher Pages ..|.. Modules & Activities |
HTML code by Chris
Kreger Some images © 2004 www.clipart.com Privacy Statement and Copyright © 1997-2004 by Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA-supported Classroom of the Future. All rights reserved. Center for Educational Technologies, Circuit Board/Apple graphic logo, and COTF Classroom of the Future logo are registered trademarks of Wheeling Jesuit University. |