By: Miss O friend Julia, 13, MD (aka superstarsista) and Miss O.

You may have heard the term, but do you know what Global Warming is? Earth has warmed by about 1°F in the past century. Why? How? Many of the world's top scientists think that things we all do are the cause.

You may ask yourself: "What does Global Warming have to do with me?" Well, Global Warming actually is a horrible thing that is happening in our world at this very moment and something that we can all chip in to help and prevent from getting worse.

What causes Global Warming? Several things but most scientists agree that one of the main causes is something called the greenhouse effect. Huh? Simply put by the U.S. Government's official website, the greenhouse effect is the "rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because some gases in our atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth's average temperature would be about 60°F colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases."

Pollution is one of the main things that cause Global Warming. The gases in the air from pollution shoot up to Earth's atmosphere, which is not good. As a result of this greenhouse effect, there may be more heat waves. Also, glaciers will continue to melt, causing the oceans' waters to rise, which may swallow up certain coastlines and islands where people live. Fuels to heat our houses also cause the greenhouse effect.

The big question everyone is asking now is: "Were the high winds of the recent hurricanes caused by Global Warming?" Well, climate scientists aren't exactly sure. Another result of Global Warming is more heat waves. Animals that live in the Artic such as Polar bears may become extinct because they are losing their home.