Question

Meaning of Green House Effect . Impacts of Green House Effect. 

Answer 1

Introduction

            When some of sun’s energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere it is reflected back to the space and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases. Due to this process, the absorbed energy warms the atmosphere and the surface of the earth. Greenhouse gases have far-ranging environmental and health effects. They cause climate change by trapping heat, and they also contribute to respiratory disease from smog and air pollution. Extreme weather, food supply disruptions, and increased wildfires are other effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gases. Therefore, based on this introduction this article will discuss some of the impacts that are caused as a result of greenhouse effect.

            The primary greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are namely carbon dioxide (CO₂), water vapor (H₂O), methane (CH₄), Ozone (O₃), nitrous oxide (N₂O) that retain much of the heat (Ritchie & Roser, 2020). According to Ritchie & Roser (2020) the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere is 15⁰c (59⁰F), whereas the temperature without greenhouse effect would have been – 18 degree F.

            The increased emission of greenhouse gases released by burning fossil fuels, agriculture, deforestation and other human activities are the primary reasons for global warming over the past few decades (Maham et al., 2020). It is resulting in the melting of ice sheets and glaciers which causes rise in sea levels. Warmer climate may probably lead to precipitation and evaporation. Global warming also results in changing the weather patterns making some places dryer and other places wetter.

            It may result in frequent natural disasters like drought, floods and hurricanes. The climate change adversely affects nature and human life and we might see worse effects of it in future if the emission of greenhouse gases continues to grow (DelSontro, Beaulieu & Downing, 2018). The consequences of global warming will be disastrous for the coastal regions. The poles will start melting due to rise in temperature causing rise in sea levels due to which coastal cities might get submerged.

Conclusion

            There is no country in the world that is not affected by the adverse effects of global warming. Reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases can prevent the adverse effects of global warming. Measures need to be taken by government and non-governmental organizations to control the emission of toxic gases in the atmosphere. Greater use of renewable energy and forestation instead of deforestation should be promoted.

References

DelSontro, T., Beaulieu, J. J., & Downing, J. A. (2018). Greenhouse gas emissions from lakes and impoundments: Upscaling in the face of global change. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 3(3), 64-75.

Maham, S. G., Rahimi, A., Subramanian, S., & Smith, D. L. (2020). The environmental impacts of organic greenhouse tomato production based on the nitrogen-fixing plant (Azolla). Journal of Cleaner Production, 245, 118679.

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2020). CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions. Our world in data.

Greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface.