Introduction:

Above - Like the glass in a glasshouse traps in heat, greenhouse gases do the same to our atmosphere, trapping in the sun's heat.

A greenhouse is a glass building that traps heat inside by letting sunshine in while keeping cold air out. As a result, the greenhouse interior warms up and provides an ideal atmosphere for the cultivation of a variety of plants.

For more information about greenhouses and conservatories, go to:
http://www.oldhousejournal.com/magazine/2002/june/titans.shtml

This “greenhouse effect” is also a natural phenomenon that keeps our earth at a liveable temperature. The earth’s atmosphere blankets the planet while allowing the sun’s energy to reach the earth’s surface, warming it up during the day.  Normally this heat energy would be re-radiated back into space at night, but some gases in the atmosphere – known as greenhouse gases – absorb some of the energy, trapping the heat at the earth’s surface. Without this greenhouse effect, it is estimated that the earth’s average temperature would be a freezing minus 18 degrees Celsius. Life on earth, as we know it, would not exist. Thanks to the greenhouse effect, the earth’s current average temperature is plus 15 degrees Celsius.

Click here to view a diagram of the greenhouse effect at:
http://www.solcomhouse.com/globalwarming.htm

But there is a problem. While most of the greenhouse gases occur naturally, many are also produced by everyday human activities and with increasing industrialisation and population of the world, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is rising.  With more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, scientists now believe that more heat is being trapped and the average temperature of the earth is rising.  This “global warming” is expected to result in changed weather patterns around the world (“climate change”) and rising sea levels – all with serious social, environmental and economic consequences.

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