Threat of Global Warming There are two burning questions that I think need to be answered before exploring the aspects of global warming. What is the greenhouse effect and how does the greenhouse effect contribute to global warming? Gases present in the atmosphere are transparent to visible light but absorb infrared waves (heat) which are re-emitted from the Earth's surface (Cunningham, Cunningham, Saigo 05). However, some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal), wood and wood products are burned. Methane is emitted during the production and transportation of coal, natural gas and oil as well as the raising of livestock. The atmosphere, loosely compared to the glass of a greenhouse, transmits sunlight while trapping heat inside, known as the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural atmospheric process necessary for life as we know it. Too strong a greenhouse effect, caused by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, can lead to harmful environmental changes. The greenhouse effect is only bothersome when it gets too strong and warms things up too much. And that's exactly what scientists say happened over the past 150 years or so, as people in industrialized countries extracted Earth's vast buried reserves of fossil fuels and burned them. Each greenhouse gas differs in its ability to absorb heat from the atmosphere. Methane traps more than 21 times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide absorbs 27...... middle of paper ...... would occur if deforestation stopped completely ? Would the greenhouse effect stop immediately or would it take many, many years? As humans, we are smart enough to stop doing things that will ultimately destroy humanity. Isn't it? More studies need to be conducted to find a definitive answer in order to save humanity. Or is this how history dictates that within this million years, global warming is inevitable? Works Cited by Discovery Channel. 2005. Global Warming.discoverychannel.org.EPA. 2006. United States Department of State website. Epa.gov/globalwarming.org.Science Express, September 30, 2004Knutson, Thomas R. and Tuleya, Robert, Journal of Climate, vol. 17, pp. 3477-3495. Geophysical Research Letters, September 22, 2004. Cunningham, WP Cunningham, MA and Saigo, BW, Environmental Science, A Global Concern, ninth ed., editor, 2005.