Greenhouses basically function thanks to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural occurrence, which, helps maintain the stable, livable, range of temperatures that we find on earth. To better understand how this phenomenon works, scientists have used the analogy of the greenhouse. In a greenhouse, the glass (the atmosphere) allows the radiant energy (light) of the sun to enter. As the radiant energy strikes various plants, gases, and objects in the greenhouse, they heat up. Their heat is then released back into the air of the greenhouse as infrared radiation (heat). This infrared radiation cannot travel through the glass and remains inside the greenhouse, increasing the temperature inside the greenhouse. Temperatures can be controlled, or kept in balance, by allowing some of the heat to remain inside and some to be vented to the outside. Under normal conditions, the earth's atmosphere works in a similar manner. Solar radiation enters the atmosphere and heats up the air molecules, the surface of the earth, buildings, plants, and other objects. These objects in turn, radiate infrared radiation back out into the atmosphere, where some of this radiation is absorbed by the greenhouse gases, and some is radiated out into space. As some of the heat stays in the atmosphere and some escapes into spaces, a balance is maintained allowing our planet to have a relatively stable range of temperatures. Scientists believe that as the greenhouse gases become more abundant in the atmosphere, due mainly to the burning of fossil fuels, they retain more and more infrared radiation, allowing less and less to escape into space, tipping the balance toward heating up the atmosphere, resulting in a changing and warmer climate, planet-wide.
Two possible reasons for the massive extinction at the end of the Paleozoic Era are an asteroid collision and massive volcanic eruptions.
Explanation:
The massive extinction that occurred at the end of the Paleozoic Era is the biggest extinction from what is known so far. The majority of the species died out, and whole families of animals and plants were wiped out of the face of the Earth. It was only small and highly adaptable organisms that managed to survive and give rise to the later life-forms.
The two possible reasons for this massive extinction are an asteroid impact and massive volcanic eruptions. An asteroid collision would have created drastic changes in a matter of minutes and hours, with effects lasting for a long period of time, thus eliminating the majority of the life. Massive volcanic eruptions, with the Siberian super-volcano being the prime candidate, may have caused enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide to end up in the atmosphere, thus rapidly changing the living conditions on the planet.
