The Foundation of Global Warming: Greenhouse Gases

The ever-increasing concerns regarding environmental decline has greatly influenced society to begin observing, recording, and evaluating information to create solutions to growing problems regarding the Earth and its atmosphere. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions is one such aspect. To understand why this particular subject requires heightened awareness, it is relevant to understand what greenhouse gases are and the impact they have on our habitat.

Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases are types of gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that tend to consume radioactive particles and then proceeds to excrete them. This process occurs in the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere closest to the surface, which is referred to as the Troposphere. Five main types of greenhouse gases exist in the atmosphere. These gases are methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and ozone. The aforementioned gases are created naturally in our environment, but human consumption often increases the amount of many of these gases. Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are often bi-products of human industrialization. Fluorinated gases are another type of greenhouse gas, but they differ from the previously named gases because their existence is primarily caused by human activity.

The Effects of Greenhouse Gases

The entrapment and enunciation of radiation in our atmosphere leaves quite an imprint on the planet. Not only does it have a negative effect on the climate, but it also raises the average temperature of the Earth, allowing for polar ice caps to melt, and the sea levels to rise. These circumstances also appear to multiply the severity level of natural disasters.

Efforts To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Considering the fact that the population of the earth continues to elevate, causing for more and more consumption as time progresses, international authorities have recognized the need to at least attempt to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency issues a Greenhouse Gas Inventory every year that records the amount of emissions activity throughout the world. This method allows for humanity to report trends and take action where needed. We have even reached a point where we can track the amount of emissions being given off on national levels, corporate levels, and individual levels. The United Nations requires that every nation submits a Greenhouse Gas Inventory on a regular basis. But, in the end, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is contingent on individual choices, for example, the need for gasoline, coal, and oil. Many companies and nations have begun to further their efforts in hindering global warming by resorting to more ecologically friendly production methods and attempting to cut out the burning of fossil fuels as much as possible. Australia recently reported that they decreased their emissions amount by over 1%, while that might not seem like a huge figure, it is some form of improvement. The European Union as been currently working on an effective and realistic goal to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in their territories as well.