The atmosphere is something that is around us everyday, but do we really think about the changes that occur in it. It isn't that we just aren't paying attention, but more of the fact that it is hard to notice slight changes over long periods of time. Everyday gases are released into the air by all living material. The gases in the air are used for many important things. For example, hydrogen is released by volcanoes, which can give energy to the cell; photosynthesis has evolved to take the gas carbon dioxide and create food and release oxygen; nitrogen is a gas used in our air, oceans, and solid earth, as an essential part of living things.

Carbon dioxide is also involved in processes where it is stored as limestone and marble, as gas and oil and coal, and is in organic material in the soil. Not only do these gases make up our atmosphere, but they also keep the temperature of the earth stable. Carbon dioxide absorbs the radiation that would otherwise escape the earth. By adding oxygen and taking away carbon dioxide this causes the earth to be cooler than it would otherwise be. These are just two of the many gases that make up the atmosphere we live in today.

The temperature in our earth is directly determined by these five gases. If not enough are in the air, then the earth is too cold, but if too many gases are released into the air, then we have the problem of things heating up. Even though the causes of global warming are known, the exact effects it will have on us in the future are yet to be determined. People need to understand that they need to act now in order to keep the world as we now know it the same in the future.