Don't judge me for asking this, but what exactly is global warming?

Question

I think I know what global warming is but I was wondering if you could explain it to clarify things. I am supposed to write a journal on this topic which involves a word cluster so if you could help me on that too i'd appreciate it!

Answer 1

The Earth has natural cycles of warming AND cooling.  The Earth's climate is not....nor has it ever been....static.  These natural cycles occur regardless of what man does or does not do.  Mankind is fortunate in that we have the ability to adjust to such changes.  Some experts have claimed that as the climate warms, hurricanes and other such weather phenomena, become worse.  Recently, it was determined in yet another study that warming may actually result in fewer or weaker hurricanes.  Unfortunatley, the ability to predict weather over the short term is extremely difficult.....there is no hard science that accurately predicts weather.

As another poster suggested, research all sides of the topic and make your own decision....don't be afraid to state your opinion.  Good luck!!

Answer 2

basically it is the earth getting warmer.

anything that is hotter then absolute zero emits infra red radiation. this is how the earth looses its heat.

greenhouse gasses can absorb this radiation and it causes them to heat up. sort of the same way as a tuning fork vibrates if the correct tune is played. these cause the greenhouse effect by preventing all of the infra red radiation emitted by the earth from escaping into space.

humans are releasing more greenhouse gasses (mainly ozone, HFCs, CFCs carbon dioxide, Nitrous oxide, Nitrogen dioxide and Nitric oxide) these cause the strengthening of the greenhouse effect.

this is referred to as the enhanced greenhouse effect. it prevents even more heat from escaping, causing warming.

Answer 3

Don't let anybody judge you for asking a question.  It is only the stupid people who don't ask and just follow.  Find out for yourself AND LISTEN TO BOTH SIDES.  Unfortunately, truth can be an evasive thing and ultimately you have to listen to both sides and determine what truth you choose to believe.

Good luck with your search. I know I didn't answer your question, but I know there are much more qualified people to answer your question than I ... someone who will give you facts and figures.  I just wanted to make sure I chimed in and supported you for asking the question!

Answer 4

more co2 is going into our atmosphere

and when the suns rays hit the Earth

then reflect back

because of more co2

the rays get trapped

warming the Earth

Answer 5

well its a good question so ill answer, global warming is the warming of earth. its when the earth gains degrees and becomes hotter. when the earth gets warmer things can happen. not to scare u but ill just say the truth. global warming is caused by all the pollution, our O Zone layer dissolves and disappears, when its gone its protection is gone,and when that's gone were in big trouble.huge storms can happen,like F5 tornado's and the strongest of storms.but worse is the ocean, when the ocean is heated it rises and if its heated to a certain point it over flows. some scientist say if global warming gets to that point we will have another ice age and that will certainly wipe out the human race . i don't know why or how that can happen but its the scary truth. of you want more just watch the discovery channel or use google. its scary but its the truth.

Answer 6

This is actually one of the best questions I’ve seen yet on this board!

This is an oversimplification, but you’ll get the idea.

The earth without an atmosphere would have a temperature of -18 degrees C (-0.4 F). But thanks to our atmosphere and what is known as the “greenhouse effect,” that temperature is raised to a habitable 15 degrees C (59 degrees F). The greenhouse effect works by trapping part of the solar energy we receive from the sun, and also allows some to be reflected back into space. “Global warming” therefore is the sum of this effect. There are several gases that make the greenhouse effect work – water vapor being far and away the greatest contributor, but also carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and some other trace gases.

What you are mostly hearing in the media though is not talking about this basic effect that keeps our planet livable, but an enhancement to this effect. Some believe this is being caused by humans (“anthropogenic” global warming – or AGW as you’ll see here frequently). However, the cause of greenhouse enhancement is widely disputed, with the AGW camp believing that human injected carbon dioxide is the primary cause and will bring about globally catastrophic temperature change.

Others citing the fact that the human contribution to the greenhouse effect is extremely small (<1%) and realizing that carbon dioxide is not the primary driver of the greenhouse effect, don’t think these catastrophic predictions are realistic They dispute the human cause citing historical natural cycles as a more likely explanation for modern warming.

Ultimately, you will have to do much more research to arrive at your own conclusion. But in the process be careful about reading only like-minded materials – from either side. Read both, do the analysis, and decide for yourself.