GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Earth’s greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet. The main gases responsible for the greenhouse effect include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor (which are all natural compounds), and fluorinated gases (which are synthetic or man-made).

Detailed explanation-2: -Carbon dioxide concentrations are rising mostly because of the fossil fuels that people are burning for energy. Fossil fuels like coal and oil contain carbon that plants pulled out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis over many millions of years; we are returning that carbon to the atmosphere in just a few hundred.

Detailed explanation-3: -Using fossil fuels takes carbon out of the ground and burning it puts CO2 into the atmosphere. When there’s more CO2 in the atmosphere, it makes the atmosphere warmer by trapping heat. Since humans are adding more CO2 to the atmosphere, that helps explain why temperatures are increasing around the world.

Detailed explanation-4: -Because of human-driven increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there is more CO2 dissolving into the ocean. The ocean’s average pH is now around 8.1, which is basic (or alkaline), but as the ocean continues to absorb more CO2, the pH decreases and the ocean becomes more acidic.

Detailed explanation-5: -This excess carbon dioxide changes our climate-increasing global temperatures, causing ocean acidification, and disrupting the planet’s ecosystems.