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What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is a natural process by which the Earth's lower atmosphere is warmed. The term "greenhouse effect" has a negative connotation because of its association with air pollution and global warming. However, it is only because of the greenhouse effect that the Earth's surface is warm enough to sustain life. In the absence of the greenhouse effect, Earth's average surface temperature would be the same as its outer atmosphere, about 0° Fahrenheit (-18° Celsius)—a far cry from our actual average surface temperature of 59° Fahrenheit (33° Celsius)!

"Greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere—primarily water vapor and carbon dioxide and secondarily methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—trap heat in the same way as the glass of a greenhouse. Specifically, solar radiation enters the atmosphere in the form of visible light, is absorbed by the Earth's surface,...

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1. Ecology
   1. What is ecology?
   2. How does a food chain work?
   3. What is a food web?
   4. What is a biome?
   5. Why is El Nino harmful?
   6. How does ozone benefit life on Earth?
   7. What is red tide and what causes it?
2. Environmental Degradation
   1. How rapidly is deforestation occurring?
   2. How many acres of tropical forest does the world lose annually?
   3. What products come from tropical forests?
   4. Who coined the term "Spaceship Earth"?
   5. How long will it be before all tropical forests have been destroyed, if present rates of destruction continue?
   6. What is the greenhouse effect?
   7. What are the components of smog?
   8. How do chlorofluorocarbons affect the Earth's ozone layer?
   9. What are flue gas "scrubbers"?
   10. What is acid rain?
   11. How acidic is acid rain?
   12. What are PCBs?
   13. What is eutrophication?
   14. Where are the radioactive waste disposal sites in the United States?
   15. How much oil is dumped into the seas?
   16. Where did the first major oil spill occur?
   17. Which pollutants lead to indoor air pollution?
   18. How much solid waste is generated annually in the United States?
   19. How much garbage does the average American generate?
   20. How much does packaging contribute to municipal solid waste?
   21. How critical is the problem of landfilling in the United States?
   22. What are Operation Ranch Hand and Agent Orange?
   23. What is the NIMBY syndrome?
   24. How much waste paper does a newspaper generate?
3. Endangered And Extinct Species
   1. Under what conditions is a species considered "endangered"?
   2. Which animal species have become extinct since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973?
   3. How many species of plants and animals are threatened in the United States?
   4. Are turtles endangered?
   5. What was the first animal on the U.S. endangered species list?
   6. What is the status of the African elephant?
   7. What is dolphin-safe tuna?
   8. How did the dodo become extinct?
   9. Why did dinosaurs become extinct?
   10. What were the smallest and largest dinosaurs?
   11. Did dinosaurs and humans live at the same time?
4. Conservation
   1. Who is considered the founder of modern conservation?
   2. What is a "green product"?
   3. Who started Earth Day?
   4. How much of the Earth is protected as national parks and similar sites?
   5. What was the United States' first national park?
   6. What natural resources are saved by recycling one ton of paper?
   7. What do the numbers inside the recycling symbol on plastic containers mean?
   8. How many trees are saved by recycling paper?
   9. What products are made from recycled plastic?
   10. What is the Pollutant Standard Index?
   11. What is the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)?
   12. How many automobile tires are thrown away each year and what can be done with them?
   13. What causes the most forest fires in the western United States?
   14. When did the symbol of Smokey Bear begin to be used for forest fire prevention?