Greenhouse Gases and Earth

Earth's Climate System is a complex system that is influenced by many different factors. The manner in which the climate is maintained, and makes life on Earth possible, is a culmination of the atmospheric conditions and the Earth's energy balance that is determined primarily by energy introduced into the system as well as its ability to trap energy in the greenhouse layer.

The Earth resides in the "Goldilocks Zone", or the habitable zone, which is believed to be the region around a star in which the right conditions for life can be sustained; recently scientist have been able to discover other planets that could also reside in such zones. (Zin, 2017). The Earth's climate system provides an ideal habitat for life based on its relationship to the closest star, the sun, and its orbital patterns.

The rotation of the earth, as well as the rotation of the moon, give the planet its seasons as well as its gravitational influences that produce weather patterns and even the ocean's tidal effects. The earth has experienced many different states of climate based on the cycle in which it has undergoane and scientist can trace the history of the earth's climate with a variety of research tools.

These tools have also indicated that human driven emissions have significantly impacted the state of the energy balance; especially within the last thirty-five years. According to NASA (NASA, N.d.): "All three major global surface temperature reconstructions show that Earth has warmed since 1880.5 Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 15 of the 16 warmest years on record occurring since 2001.

The year 2015 was the first time the global average temperatures were 1 degree Celsius or more above the 1880-1899 average.6 Even though the 2000s witnessed a solar output decline resulting in an unusually deep solar minimum in 2007-2009, surface temperatures continue to increase." Human contributions to the earth's energy balance also come from a range of different sources. For example, one source has been from the domestication of cattle and the current industrial cattle operations are a major contributor to methane emissions which are a greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases occur naturally and cover the earth with a thin layer, almost like a varnish, that works to trap energy by allowing some light waves to pass through the atmosphere, but not others that occur at different points of the light spectrum. Therefore, solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth, while some energy is also released back out into space. The balance of energy has to be just right (Goldilocks) to create an atmosphere that can support life.

For example, the atmosphere of Venus is too hot to support life based on its thick atmosphere, while Mars, without a greenhouse layer, is currently too cold. Carbon dioxide is the primary human emitted greenhouse gas that is being emitted into the atmosphere and thickening this essential energy buffer. However, since the Earth is also in motion, this is what provides the weather patterns and different climate zones that can be found on the planet.

The regions that receive the most sun light, the tropics, are generally the warmest while those that receive the least amount of energy from the sun are the coldest and.