Temperature and Carbon Dioxide

Greenhouse Effect

Some heat travels through the atmosphere and back out to space, while some is absorbed by atmospheric gases and radiated back to Earth. The trapping and buildup of heat in the atmosphere near the Earth's surface is known as the greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse gas

Also sometimes know as "heat-trapping gases," greenhouse gases are natural or manmade gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and flourinated gases.

Carbon

A chemical element to all living things. Carbon combines wit oxygen to make a gas called carbon dioxide.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

A colorless, odorless greenhouse gas. It's produced naturally when plants lr animals decay, and is used during photosynthesis by plants. People are adding CO2 into the atmosphere, mostly by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. The extra CO2 is the main cause for climate change.

Fossil Fuel

A type of fuel that dorms deep within the Earth. Examples of fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels are created over millions of years as dead plant and animal material becomes trapped and buried in layers of rock, and heat and pressure transform this material into a fuel. All fossil fuels contain carbon.