The greenhouse effect is a major environmental challenge today. It refers to a natural process that causes a warming effect on the surface of the earth. It occurs when solar radiation reaches the surface of the earth which reflects some of the energy back to the atmosphere where greenhouse gases absorb the energy making the lower atmosphere and earth's surface warm. The temperature of the earth’s surface is determined by the equilibrium between the visible radiation emitted by the sun and the infrared radiation from the earth’s surface. Although there are various gases that cause the greenhouse effect, water vapor and carbon (IV) oxide gases are most prominent. Other greenhouse gases include methane, nitrogen oxides, hydrofluorocarbon gases, Sulphur hexafluoride, and perfluorocarbons. This research paper focuses on the greenhouse effect, its causes and its impacts.
The greenhouse effect results from greenhouse gases which form a cloud in the atmosphere. This cloud absorbs most infrared radiation from the earth warming the earth’s surface. Most greenhouse gases are produced from human activities such as deforestation, combustion of fossil fuels, garbage and industrial wastes, and increase in population ( Rotmans, 2012). Deforestation has become part of today’s lives due to the establishment of urban sceneries. This causes an imbalance in ecosystem causing high rates of carbon (IV) oxide gas in the atmosphere. Moreover, during deforestation, some trees are burned generating more carbon (IV) oxide which is released into the atmosphere.
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Most fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal play an important role in transportation and generation of energy. Combustion of these fossil fuels release carbon dioxide gas which causes the greenhouse effect. Coal which is highly depended on for the generation of energy produces a high amount of carbon (IV) oxide gas when combusted. This gas is released to the atmosphere increasing the amount of greenhouse gases hence the temperature on the earth's surface and the lower atmosphere. The rise in population also causes greenhouse effect in that it implies more fossil fuel use. Increase in the number of people also implies that more people use vehicles increasing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
During production, different industries produce greenhouse gases such as Sulphur hexafluoride, CFCs, Nitrogen oxides, and methane among others. These gases cause the greenhouse effect. Garbage dump sites also produce methane and carbon (IV) oxide which are harmful greenhouse gases. The rise of the greenhouse gases leads to increase in the temperature of the lower atmosphere and the earth's surface leading to depletion of the ozone layer. This allows ultraviolet rays to seep through to the earth causing damage to both fauna and flora.
The greenhouse effect changes the temperature of the surface of the earth constantly. This makes the earth's surface warmer every day causing global warming. The greenhouse effect has both positive and negative impacts on the life's existence on earth. Without it, the earth may be too cold making it inhabitable ( Rotmans, 2012). Presence of natural greenhouse effect makes the earth habitable since it ensures the right temperature. However, increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases cause high temperatures on earth which may cause harmful climate changes in future. A study by Environmental Media Services Organization shows that it is only greenhouse effect that is able to increase the temperature of the earth's surface by the year 2100 by six degrees ( Carslaw, Schmidt, & Corbett, 2013) . Global warming affects the balance of the entire ecology, coral reefs, plants, sea level, and human beings.
The greenhouse effect has alarming negative impacts. The lives on earth are already experiencing these impacts and they pose a threat to the future sustainability. Polar ice cap melting is one of the dominant negative impacts of the greenhouse effect. This causes the rising of the sea levels flooding the low regions. Melting of the ice caps also affects the worldwide ecosystem equilibrium in that the ocean is desalinated by the fresh water in the ice caps during the melting. This affects the currents of the ocean which are responsible for the regulation of temperature negatively since it makes it difficult for the cooling and warming patterns to be drawn in some regions. Other predicted negative impacts of greenhouse impacts include a likelihood of stronger and constant cyclones due to the increase in the temperature of the ocean, climatic change whereby wet areas will become wetter while the drought subjected areas will face extreme challenges, water supplies will be compromised by shrinking of snow caps and mountain glaciers. The greenhouse effect also causes ecosystem stress on both flora and fauna whereby plants and animals that will not be able to adapt to climate change will die unbalancing the ecosystem. Warmer regions are also predicted to attract different pests and diseases that will affect the lives in those regions negatively.
Global warming is evident on some parts of planet earth today. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007), out of twelve, eleven warmest years were 1996-2006 years since the year 1850. There is approximately 0.74 degrees’ Celsius increase in temperature worldwide in 1906-2005 years. This increase in temperature spreads all through the globe. The sea levels have also increased over years. According to Lacharity (2017), Oceans across the globe are also getting warmer. There are various ways in which the impacts of the greenhouse effect can be prevented. They include switching off the electricity when not in use, driving less, planting trees and recycling among others.
Conclusively, the Greenhouse effect is a major challenge in the environment in the 21 st century. It also poses a great challenge to the existence of life on earth and should, therefore, be dealt with. The natural greenhouse effect is very important since it maintains the temperature of the earth’s surface. However, if the greenhouse gases increase above the normal level then it leads to global warming. The greenhouse effect is mainly caused by mankind activities such as deforestation, combustion of fossil fuels, industrial wastes among others. These activities lead to the production of greenhouse gases like methane and carbon (IV) oxide. Government and citizens can choose green energy in order to reduce the production of gases that cause the greenhouse effect.
References
Carslaw, K. S., Schmidt, A., & Corbett, J. J. (2013). Impact of future Arctic shipping on high ‐ latitude black carbon deposition. Geophysical Research Letters , 40 (16), 4459-4463.
CHANGE, I. P. O. C. (2007). REPORT OF THE NINETEENTH SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) Geneva, 17-20 (am only) April 2002.
Lacharity, R. (2017). Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Whole Plant Modeling and Emission Factors at Wastewater Treatment Plants (Doctoral dissertation).
Rotmans, J. (2012). IMAGE: an integrated model to assess the greenhouse effect (Vol. 1). Springer Science & Business Media.
