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Carbon Dioxide: Temperature
The greenhouse effect is a natural occurrence that keeps all Earth's heat from escaping to the outer atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect.  The greenhouse effect is a necessary phenomenon. It balances the effects of the earth-cooling processes. The greenhouse effect helps maintain Earth's average temperature at approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which is necessary for life to exist on this planet.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is responsible for 55% of the greenhouse effect.  This is because it is very effective as a greenhouse gas, and there is a lot of it in the atmosphere. The sun's light energy is able to pass through the atmospheric CO2 to the earth's surface. When the light reflects off Earth's surface, it is transformed into long wave radiation. Atmospheric CO2 absorbs the long wave radiation and emits it in all directions, including back toward Earth. 

In recent years, the concentration of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere has steadily increased. An increase in the concentration of such a powerful greenhouse gas may lead to an imbalance between the greenhouse effect and the processes that cool Earth. The result could be a net increase in the earth's average temperature.

 

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