How do burning fossil fuels cause global warming?

Answer 1

Fossil fuels are generally mixtures of Carbon based compounds. When these compounds undergo a Stoichiometric combustion process, this yields CO2 and water H2O. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that enhances the greenhouse effect by trapping additional radiation and thereby warming the atmosphere.

There is also other factors that play into Global warming as well, such as deforestation.

Answer 2

I've seen lots of accurate answers, but most are a bit confusing. I'll give it a shot. I have a BS in Environmental Science, so I'm privy to a bit of information.

Solar radiation doesn't heat the atmosphere, it heats the rocks and soil and trees and roads and anything else that's solid. It will heat your body but not the air around it. The atmosphere is heated by thermal radiation given off by the rocks and trees and etc. after it has been heated by radiant energy from the sun.

Whenever we burn anything, vapors are released into the atmosphere. A smaller atmosphere holds less of this thermal (heat) energy. A larger atmosphere holds more. As we expand our atmosphere via these gaseous additions, it becomes able to store more heat. This is the beginning of a circular process...

As the atmosphere stores more heat, more water evaporates. Water vapor is the most prevalent "greenhouse gas," although I prefer to think of all gases as greenhouse gases. More water vapor expands the atmosphere, more heat is stored, more water evaporates, more heat is stored...etc. Get the idea?

So, as more water vapor enters the atmosphere more solar energy is stored. Thus, weather patterns become more erratic, because it is this solar energy that fuels our winds. Wind plus water equals weather. Also, since the storms become more violent, they become more concentrated and less evenly distributed. Expect more storms and more droughts, perhaps for the rest of our lives.

Case in point. Jupiter is a tiny rock inside a tremendous atmosphere. Even though it is very distant from the sun, it still stores enough energy that we can see an immense hurricane swirling about that has lasted for as long as we've been looking! That's hundreds of years! Once an atmosphere becomes heated, planetary weather becomes quite violent.

So, that is how burning ANYTHING affects the atmospheric storage of heat.

Answer 3

When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The total percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased gradually for the past few centuries, and continues to increase more rapidly than ever. Carbon dioxide is what is known as a greenhouse gas. It tends to retain heat, because it is transparent to visible light coming to Earth from the sun, but it is opaque to infrared radiation which the Earth emits at night, as a cooling process. So greenhouse gases are the equivalent of a blanket wrapped around the world, keeping it warm. Too much of this will cause the world to overheat, which is potentially very dangerous.

Answer 4

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide that was laid down millions of years ago, when the coal and oil used to be dinosaurs and vegetation. The carbon cycle which keeps the greenhouse effect going can't cope with all the additional CO2. Carbon dioxide is extremely important for the planet's warmth, but too much of it captures more and more of the sun's heat and is causing global warming!