greenhouse gases and the Greenhouse effect
When sunlight hits the surface of the Earth, some of its energy is absorbed and turned into heat, and the rest is reflected back into the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. Certain gases in the air, known as greenhouse gases, absorb some of this infrared radiation and convert it into heat, warming the atmosphere. This process is known as the greenhouse effect, and it is responsible for keeping Earth at a livable temperature. Unfortunately, this effect has been magnified by the addition of massive quantities of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, causing the global average temperature to rise. The main gases responsible for this are carbon dioxide, which is released by the burning of fossil fuels, methane, which is released by the mining of fossil fuels and livestock, nitrous oxide, which is emitted during agricultural activities, and fluorinated gases (F-gases), which are released by various industrial processes. This graph shows the percentages of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions ("Global Emissions," n.d.).