Directions: Read and analyze the text. Identify the type of text and complete the graphic organizer below.
1. Carbon Dioxide, the Greenhouse Effect, and Recent Global Warming
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that strongly absorbs infrared radiation and plays a
major role in warming the lower atmosphere. We also know that carbon dioxide has been
increasing steadily in the atmosphere, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels.
However, deforestation may also be adding to this increase as tropical rainforests are
removed and replaced with less efficient plants. In 1990, the annual average of carbon
dioxide was about 350 parts per million, and present estimates are that this value may
double sometime in century
To complicate the picture, three
gases such methane nitrous oxide and
chlorofluorocarbons, all of which readily absorb infrared radiation have been increasing in
concentration over the past century. Collectively, these gases are about equal to carbon
dioxide in their ability to enhance the atmospheric greenhouse effect Moreover, rising
ocean temperatures will cause an increase in evaporation rates and hence an increase in
atmospheric water vapor, which is the most potent greenhouse gas The added water vapor
accelerates the temperature rise Recent satellite measurements have confirmed this
as
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