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Article: Gauging the greenhouse effect.
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- November 1, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Gauging the Greenhouse Effect
During the summer of 1988, the United States was hot and dry. A drought destroyed one-third of the grain crop. Barges couldn't travel down the Mississippi River because the water level had dropped 20 feet. Tinder-dry trees in the West caught fire, and 5 million acres of forest died. Scientists are not sure if these things themselves are signs of global warming, but most of them predict that warming is on the way.
Scientists have been warning that steadily rising amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are warming the earth and changing the climate. Carbon dioxide in the air acts like the glass roof of a greenhouse: ...