Causes of Greenhouse Earth
There are several theories as to how a Greenhouse Earth can come about. The geological record shows CO2 and other greenhouse gases are abundant during this time. Tectonic movements were extremely active during the more well known Greenhouse ages (such as 368 million years ago in the Paleozoic Era). Because of continental rifting (continental plates moving away from each other) volcanic activity becomes more prominent, producing more CO2 and heating up the Earth's atmosphere. Earth is more commonly placed in a Greenhouse state throughout the epochs, and the Earth has been in this state for approximately 80% of its history, which makes understanding the direct causes somewhat difficult.
Read more about this topic: Greenhouse And Icehouse Earth
Famous quotes containing the words greenhouse and/or earth:
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—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“All you of Earth are idiots!... First was your firecracker, a harmless explosive. Then your hand grenade. They begin to kill your own people a few at a time. Then the bomb. Then a larger bomb, many people are killed at one time. Then your scientists stumbled upon the atom bomb—split the atom. Then the hydrogen bomb, where you actually explode the air itself.”
—Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1922–1978)