Global Warming: Greenhouse Effect

Effectively, the earth and its atmosphere are warmed as a result of the actions of the greenhouse gases.The solar rays as well as the heat generated by the earth are not dissipated entirely and instantaneously into space vacuum because of the gasses which trap them into the earth's atmosphere.This is needed because if there were no heat being trapped,the earth would overall be about 30 Celsius cooler and life would not be as we know it. After millions of years the delicate balance has been fractured, perhaps irreparably in the last 100 years.In the last century humanity's technological advances and the resulting lifestyle choices have increased the production of greenhouse gasses. As more greenhouse gasses are trapped in the atmosphere, more heat is generated. And too much heat causes climate change.
The earth's atmosphere's composition is:

Nitrogen: 78%
Oxygen: 21%
Greenhouse Gases: 1%
The Greenhouse Gases are: Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Ozone, Water Vapour and Halocarbons

Tags: Nitrogen, Oxygen, Greenhouse Gases, The Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Ozone, Water Vapour, Halocarbons

Gaia—Science of a Goddess

Gaia in classical Greek mythology is the source.In the beginning was chaos and from this chaos arose Gaia.And she produced of her own body and self Uranus.And from her union with Uranus arose creation.While the meaning of myths remains ambiguous,the deities become a part of the collective folklore and customs.So thousands of years later,Gaia is still associated with the earth and depending upon the etymological version followed,is the grandmother earth or earth goddess of the very earth itself.Nearly all cultures have some version or the other of a goddess who is the personification of earth.From the Celtic - Iris Danu to the Sumerian Tiamat and the Hindu Adya Shakti, with the sole exception of the Egyptian mythology,earth is always a feminine power.In the 1960s,while working for NASA Dr.James Lovelock formulated and put forward the Gaia Hypothesis.According to this the whole planet and all its organisms were a part of the self regulating mechanism of Gaia.From phytoplanktons on the surface of the sea to the colour of the daisy,the Gaia Hypothesis sees all earth systems- biological,chemical, human- as interlocked and interdependent.Till recently, the balance was being maintained,whereby Gaia could self regulate.Thus excessive carbon dioxide emission was balanced by greater algae bloom,which absorbed excess carbon dioxide and locked it onto the ocean floor.

But finally,human activities now threaten to strain Gaia's self regulation capacity to a critical threshold,triggering an abrupt change,which will make the earth far less hospitable for wide spread human habitation.

Tags: Gaia, Greek Mythology