Here is how your science
teacher might explain it - though she might give you more of the nitty
gritty and then test you!!
The sun beams its warmth
down onto our earth. Mmmm... Greenhouse gases, 1% of the gases in our atmosphere,
have the special job of holding that warmth around our planet - like a light
blanket. This is called the Greenhouse Effect.
Without
greenhouse gases this heat would float away and the earth’s average temperature
would be –18 degrees!!! Brrr... The
earth produces just the right amount of these greenhouse gases naturally
but us humans are adding more!
Adding more
greenhouse gases is like adding more blankets. After a while the
earth's average temperature starts to rise.
This rise in
temperature causes our delicate and complex climate system to get all
out of whack. A good way to try to understand this is to think
about how your body reacts when you have a fever. You feel out of
sorts - one minute your sweating, the next you are chilled and overall
you feel lousy!
Scientists
say that the earth’s temperature could rise by as much as six degrees.
During the last ice age, the average temperature was only seven degrees
cooler – and glaciers covered most of the country! Imagine how six
degrees could affect us!
