Global Warming

Water vapor is extremely important to the weather and climate, water vapor is the Earth's most important greenhouse gas accounting for about 90% of the Earth's natural greenhouse effect, which helps keep the Earth warm enough to support life (Water Vapor). 95% of greenhouse gases are water vapor. It you get a fall evening or spring evening, the sky is clear and the heat will escape and then the temperature will drop and then you get frost. Water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas. The water vapor feedback loop makes temperature changes caused by CO2 even bigger.

Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are often called greenhouse gases. Some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere through natural processes and human activities (Greenhouse gases). Other greenhouse gases are created and emitted solely through human activities. The principal greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere because of human activities are:

Carbon dioxide- Enters the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels.

Methane- Emitted through the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil.

Nitrous Oxide- Emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste.

Flourinated Gases- Hydrfluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride are synthetic power greenhouse gases that are emitted from a variety of industrial processes.

The global average surface temperature fluctuates over time, but recently it has increased dramatically from 1920 to the present, the Earth's average surface temperature has increased by around 1.4 degrees F. The shortest rise occurred between 1975 and 2010, when temperatures rose steadily by over 1 degree F. The recent increase in concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the result of human activities, mainly the burning of fossil fuels. As the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased, so has the average surface temperature of the earth.