Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Discussion - Essay Example These gases in the atmosphere provide an invisible blanket around the earth and help keep the planet warm enough. Global warming occurs because of the greenhouse effect, or when the gases like carbon dioxide increase resulting in more energy trapped and re-emitted back to the earth. This paper will attempt to describe in more detail the global warming phenomenon. Global warming was a term that was first used in 1975 by American scientist Wallace Smith Broecker who discovered that the climate of the earth is warming consistently due to various human activities. In a magazine, he published a paper entitled Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming which was where he first coined the term. In 1979, the term was used again to depict the physical phenomenon that is heating up the planet. The article with the title The Charney Report was published by the National Academy of Science. (Yukozimo, 2014) The phenomenon of global warming can be further understood by taking a look at the earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is a region of dense gases in the stratosphere of the earth that is capable of blocking most of the harmful solar ultraviolet radiations. More than ninety percent of the ozone is present in the stratosphere of earth. It has a higher concentration of ozone as compared to the earth’s surface. Unfortunately, this important part of our atmosphere is slowly becoming more and more fragile and both nature and man can be held responsible. Manmade chemicals like halocarbons, CFCs, HCFCs, freon and halon contribute largely to the depletion of the ozone layer. Due to the increasing concentration of the refrigerants, solvents and propellants in the atmosphere, the ozone layer is under depletion of the rate of four percent per decade. As the ozone layer becomes thinner and thinner, ultraviolet light penetrates through