The earth receives heat from the sun and loses heat by reflecting it back into the atmosphere. The atmosphere contains a mixture of gases that trap heat and keep the earth's surface warm. These greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone) are vital for life on earth. If they didn't exist it is likely that earth would be too cold to sustain life. Due to our energy intensive lifestyles and the burning of vast quantities of fossil fuels the levels of greenhouse gases have been increasing rapidly which magnifies the greenhouse effect and traps more and more heat close to the earth's surface.
There is well documented data that provides a high degree of confirmation that man made production of gases such as carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels may be testing the systems boundaries a little too much, resulting in excessive warming on a global scale.
Although there may be a debate ongoing in relation to climate science and the contribution of man made global warming, it is generally accepted that volcanic eruptions add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, however, when compared to quantity of carbon dioxide produced by human activities, their impact seems marginal: volcanic eruptions generate around 110 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, in comparison to human activities which contribute almost 10,000 times that quantity. Read the full report here.
Source: by Kina Birkby, Azocleantech.
