Fossil Fuels and the Greenhouse Effect

Name: _________________________________       Date: _____________

For more than a century, Earth has been getting warmer. There's more and more evidence that emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are to blame. Cars, factories, and power plants spew huge amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To learn more, go to the EPA's Global Warming: What It Is page. Read the introduction.

1. Earth's temperature warmed _______ degree(s) Fahrenheit over the past 100 years.
   
   
2. Click Greenhouse Effect in the left margin. What is the greenhouse effect?
   
   
   
   
3. Read the two paragraphs to the left of the picture of a greenhouse. Study the greenhouse effect diagram below them. What part of a greenhouse has the same effect as gases in the atmosphere?
   
   
   
   
4. Click animation below the diagram. Summarize the main ideas of scenes 2–6 in the chart below. When you're finished, test your knowledge with the quiz that appears.
   

   Scene	Summary
   2. Solar Rays
   3. Infrared Rays
   4. Deforestation
   5. Emissions
   6. Conclusion

   
   
5. Click Can We Change the Climate? in the left margin. Scroll to When Do You Send Greenhouse Gases into the Air? List five things you do that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
   
   
   
   
6. Click So What's the Big Deal? in the left margin. As you read the page, complete the table below describing global warming's effects.
   

   Global Warming's Effect On:	Description of Effect
   Human Health
   Ecological Systems
   Sea Level Rise
   Crops and Food Supply

   
   
7. Find out how We Can Make a Difference. List five things you can do to help reduce greenhouse gases.