Stop Global Warming

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We Can Make a Difference
2007-12-09 11:39:00
Climate change may be a big problem, but there are many little things we can do to make a difference. If we try, most of us can do our part to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that we put into the atmosphere. Many greenhouse gases come from things we do every day. As we have learned, these greenhouse gases trap energy in the atmosphere and make the Earth warmer.Driving a car or using electricity is not wrong. We just have to be smart about it.Some people use less energy by carpooling. For example, four people can ride together in one car instead of driving four cars to work. Here are some additional ways you can help make the planet a better place!ReadLearning about the environment is very important. There are many good books that will help you learn. To get started, ask a teacher or a librarian for some suggestions. You also can look at the Links page to find other good web sites with information about the environment and climate change.Save ElectricityWhenever we use electric...
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So, What's The Big Deal?
2007-12-09 11:28:00
Sometimes little things can turn into big things. Think about brushing your teeth. If you don't brush for one day, chances are nothing bad will happen. But if you don't brush your teeth for one month, you may develop a cavity. It's the same thing with global temperatures. If temperatures rise above normal levels for a few days, it's no big deal – the Earth will stay more or less the same. But if temperatures continue to rise over a longer period of time, then the Earth may experience some problems.Average global temperature has increased by almost 1ºF over the past century; scientists expect the average global temperature to increase an additional 2 to 6ºF over the next one hundred years. This may not sound like much, but it could change the Earth's climate as never before. At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperature was only 7ºF colder than it is today, and glaciers covered much of North America!Even a small increase in temperature over a long time...
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Can We Change The Climate?
2007-12-09 11:15:00
It may seem hard to believe that people can actually change the Earth’s climate. But scientists think that the things people do that send greenhouse gases into the air are making our planet warmer.Once, all climate changes occurred naturally. However, during the Industrial Revolution, we began altering our climate and environment through agricultural and industrial practices. The Industrial Revolution was a time when people began using machines to make life easier. It started more than 200 years ago and changed the way humans live. Before the Industrial Revolution, human activity released very few gases into the atmosphere, but now through population growth, fossil fuel burning, and deforestation, we are affecting the mixture of gases in the atmosphere.Since the Industrial Revolution, the need for energy to run machines has steadily increased. Some energy, like the energy you need to do your homework, comes from the food you eat. But other energy, like the energy that makes cars r...
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The Climate Detectives
2007-12-09 11:04:00
Scientists have to think like detectives. They look for clues to help them understand how the world works. Then they investigate the clues to find evidence – real facts that can give them a better idea of what is going on. Here are some of the ways that scientists gather evidence about climate, both past and present:Weather StationsWeather stations help us find out the temperature on the surface of the Earth. Weather stations use special thermometers that tell us the temperature. They can be set up almost anywhere on land. Weather stations also can tell us how fast the wind is moving and how much rain falls on the ground during a storm.Weather BalloonsAlmost everyone likes balloons – including scientists! Weather balloons are released to float high up into the atmosphere. They carry special instruments that send all kinds of information about the weather back to people on the ground.Ocean BuoysA buoy is an object that floats on water, and is often used to Cartoon drawings of var...
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Climate's Come a Long Way
2007-12-09 10:52:00
Earth's climate has been changing constantly over its 5-billion-year history. Sometimes, the climate has warmed so that the oceans have risen and covered much of the Earth. Each of the changes may seem extreme, but they usually occurred slowly over many thousands of years.Ancient Climate HistoryThe first people arrived in America between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago. During that time, much of North America was covered by great ice sheets. Some 14,000 years ago, the last ice sheet began to melt very quickly. By 7,000 years ago, the ice was gone.This end to the ice ages caused big changes on the Earth. The changes caused many kinds of plants and animals to die. For example, mastodons – elephant-like animals – and other large mammals that preferred cold climates may not have been able to live in the warmer, drier conditions.The Little Ice AgeStarting in the 14th century, Europeans lived through what is known as the "Little Ice Age." The Little Ice Age lasted for several hundred yea...
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What is the Climate System
2007-12-09 10:50:00
It may seem hard to believe that people can actually change the Earth’s climate. But scientists think that the things people do that send greenhouse gases into the air are making our planet warmer.AtmosphereThe atmosphere covers the Earth. It is a thin layer of mixed gases which make up the air we breathe. This thin layer also helps the Earth from becoming too hot or too cold, much like clothing does for us. Weather systems, which develop in the lower atmosphere, are driven by heat from the sun, the rotation of the Earth, and variations in the Earth's surface.OceansOceans cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface. Their large mass and thermal properties, enable them to store vast quantities of heat. Oceans buffer and regulate temperature – energy absorbed or lost by the oceans results in a smaller surface temperature change than would occur over land. The atmosphere and ocean constantly exchange energy and matter. For example, water evaporates from the oceans into the atmosphe...
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Greenhouse Effect
2007-12-09 10:45:00
The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases.Have you ever seen a greenhouse? Most greenhouses look like a small glass house. Greenhouse s are used to grow plants, especially in the winter. Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun. The glass panels of the greenhouse let in light but keep heat from escaping. This causes the greenhouse to heat up, much like the inside of a car parked in sunlight, and keeps the plants warm enough to live in the winter.The Earth’s atmosphere is all around us. It is the air that we breathe. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere behave much like the glass panes in a greenhouse. Sunlight e...
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Climate and Weather
2007-12-09 10:41:00
Weather is all around us. Weather may be one of the first things you notice after you wake up. Chances are, if it is cold and snowing, you'll wear a jacket when you go outside. If it's hot and sunny, you may wear shorts.Sounds pretty simple, right?But what about climate?How is it different from weather?And what is weather, exactly?WeatherWeather describes whatever is happening outdoors in a given place at a given time. Weather is what happens from minute to minute. The weather can change a lot within a very short time. For example, it may rain for an hour and then become sunny and clear. Weather is what we hear about on the television news every night. Weather includes daily changes in precipitation, barometric pressure, temperature, and wind conditions in a given location. What is your weather like today?Climate Climate describes the total of all weather occurring over a period of years in a given place. This includes average weather conditions, regular weather sequences (like win...
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Global Warming : What it is.....
2007-12-08 21:05:00
Earth has warmed by about 1ºF over the past 100 years. But why? And how? Well, scientists are not exactly sure. The Earth could be getting warmer on its own, but many of the world's leading climate scientists think that things people do are helping to make the Earth warmer. Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change, and Global Warming The Greenhouse Effect: Scientists are sure about the greenhouse effect. They know that greenhouse gases make the Earth warmer by trapping energy in the atmosphere.Climate Change: Climate is the long-term average of a region's weather events lumped together. For example, it's possible that a winter day in Buffalo, New York, could be sunny and mild, but the average weather – the climate – tells us that Buffalo's winters will mainly be cold and include snow and rain. Climate change represents a change in these long-term weather patterns. They can become warmer or colder. Annual amounts of rainfall or snowfall can increase or decrease.Global Warming: Globa...
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