Michael J. answered • 05/18/15
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A greenhouse gas is a gas that produces heat as it builds up in the atmosphere. It also becomes trapped in the atmosphere, so it cannot escape the inner layers of Earth's atmosphere. As a result, these gases cause pollution because they dirty up the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide is a main greenhouse gas, found in car exhaust pipes.
Methane and nitrous oxide is another type of greenhouse gas.
Oxygen is the only clean gas out there because we need it to survive. Therefore, the only gas that is not a greenhouse gas is (c) oxygen.
Matt H.
Michael, you're right that oxygen is the only one of the list that's not a greenhouse gas, but not all the others are "dirty." Carbon dioxide is a natural result of animal respiration, and is necessary for plant respiration--plants essentially trade us oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide. It's only potentially dangerous if there are not enough plants in the world to take in enough of the carbon dioxide, at which point it can build up along with other gases and trap too much heat in the atmosphere.
The dirty one you're thinking of in a car's exhaust pipe is carbon MONoxide, which can kill a person in high enough concentrations. Very different from carbon dioxide!
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05/18/15
Jim S.
05/18/15