Green House

When fossil fuels, or other fuels, such as wood or peat, which contain carbon are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Vehicles also give out, and so add, carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The Earth’s atmosphere allows most of the Sun’s rays to pass through it to heat the Earth’s surface. The Earth reflects much of the heat energy back into the atmosphere, but much of this reflected radiation cannot escape because gases such as carbon dioxide absorb it. They grow warm and send heat radiation back to Earth.

This is the greenhouse effect. Many scientists think that the greenhouse effect may change the climate, over the next 100 years or so. One consequence of soalled “global warming” resulting from the greenhouse effect could be melting of the polar ice – caps. This in turn, could lead to a rise in sea level which could flood large areas of highly populated coastal land.

If carbon dioxide proves to be as harmful as thought. In order to reduce carbon dioxide levels we need to reduce the amounts of carbon-rich fuels burned.