Exploring Your Environment

A ll the air that surrounds the earth is called the atmosphere. Like the windows in a car, the atmosphere lets in sunlight and keeps in heat to warm the earth. This is called the greenhouse effect. Burning coal, oil, and natural gas for energy adds carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is mostly responsible for the greenhouse effect. Many scientists believe our climate is changing because of the carbon dioxide that is released to the atmosphere as a result of human activities. How much carbon dioxide does your use of energy add to the atmosphere? 1. Suppose your family used about 900 kilowatt hours of electricity last month. (A kilowatt hour is the unit of measure for electric- ity.) 2. How many pounds of coal would have been needed to make that much electricity? Multiply kilowatt hours by 1/3. 3. How many pounds of carbon dioxide would have been given off by the coal needed to make that electricity? Multiply kilowatt hours by 2 1/2. 4. With a partner or by yourself, write down what you could do to use electricity more wisely and affect the atmo- sphere less. Using Energy Can Affect The Atmosphere t r i 9