Which gas has a greater potential to harm the atmosphere: methane or carbon dioxide? use data from the table to explain your answer.

According to the EPA’s overview of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) accounts for about 82 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the U.S. Since the industrial revolution, human activities have been altering the carbon cycle in the atmosphere by adding more CO2 and influencing the ability of “natural sinks”, like forests, to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Environmental science studies the interactions between the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment, including their effects on all types of organisms. earth science (also known as geoscience), is an inclusive term for all sciences related to earth (geology, meteorology, oceanogr maphy, etc).  although environmental and earth science cover essentially the same material, environmental science places greater emphasis on the biological realm, while earth science places greater emphasis on the physical realm.    environmental and earth science study the interactions of four major systems or “spheres” (figure 8.6).  the  geosphere  consists of the core, mantle and crust of the earth.the  atmosphere  contains all of the earth’s air and is divided into troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and ionosphere.the  hydrosphere  contains all of the solid, liquid and gaseous water on earth, extending from the depths of the sea to the upper reaches of the troposphere where water is found.  ninety-seven percent of the hydrosphere is found in salty oceans, and the remainder is found as vapor or droplets in the atmosphere and as liquid in ground water, lakes, rivers, glaciers and snowfields.  the  biosphere  is the collection of all earth’s life forms, distributed in major life zones known as biomes:   tundra, boreal forest, temperate deciduous forest, temperate grassland, desert, savannah, tropical rainforest, chaparral, freshwater, and marine.although the four systems have their unique identities, there is substantial interaction between them.  environmental scientists study the effects of events in one sphere on the other spheres. for example, a volcanic eruption in the geosphere may cause profound direct and indirect effects on the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere as follows: example 1 (volcano)    on may 18, 1980, mount saint helens, in the state of washington, erupted.  this event altered the surrounding environment, and provided scientists with an opportunity to study the effects of volcanic eruptions on the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.  such studies are vital because volcanic eruptions will continue to occur, and will have increasing impact on humans as people continue to settle lands closer to dormant volcanoes. the following are but a few of the myriad of interactions resulting from a volcanic 

The return of the wolf to yellowstone national park will probably affect the bird population to some degree, not significantly. while wolves will hunt birds when necessary, they prefer to hunt larger prey. the bird population will most likely only be affected when hunting is scarce for the wolves. birds of prey will also probably not be affected as much as other birds who spend more time on the ground hunting for food as the tend to spend more time in the air or in trees since they do not need to stay on the ground for long due to the nature of the way they hunt.