Greenhouse Effect (Causes, Effects and Solutions) Explained

Introduction

The term ‘Greenhouse’ effect is a buzzword these days. Barring a few instances, environmental landscape is getting significance with every passing day. Every time you hear something about environment, you can’t really elude hearing the words like global warming, climate change and fossil fuels. The Importance of environment can be gauged from the fact that a plethora of international accords and Agreements pertaining to the subject have been put in place in a span of last three decades. It has literally shaken the World Order. And sane voices are suggesting entirely ways of how this world should work; what should be the level of cooperation among different countries and international institutions? Why countries can’t afford complacency in this regard? To everyone’s surprise, the Greenhouse effect sits at the very heart of this emerging environmental discourse. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand what it is, what are its ramifications? What humans can do to mitigate its adverse consequences?

What is Greenhouse effect?

There are some gases like Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and fluorinated gases which form a cover near the surface of earth and block sun radiation from radiating back into atmosphere. The trapping of sun heat near earth surface warms the overall temperature of the global.  Such a rise entails certain consequences for the life on the planet. The phenomena is referred to as Global Warming.

Origin of these gases

There are two possible sources: first, these gases emanate from natural processes like volcanic eruptions, wildfires and El-nino effect. Second, human activities emit these gases.  These activities are following

      ·         Burning of fossil fuels—Coal, gas and oil. Humans burn fossil fuels in industry, transportation and power sectors. The processes release carbon dioxide into atmosphere. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, 64% of global warming is caused by carbon dioxide. One can see the lion’s share of this gas in the overall environmental degradation.

      ·         Deforestation--- A recent research by UNDP reveals, deforestation adds 20% to the scourge of global warming. As a matter of fact, forests play instrumental role in environmental regulation. They absorb CO2, regulate flood flows and provide habitat to flora and fauna. It is unfortunate that humans are losing forest cover at a breakneck pace.

      ·         Livestock Farming--- This is an interesting process. Research reveals, while digesting their food, animals release methane. Thus, with the increase in livestock farming, the issue of global warming worsens. And to everyone’s dismay, methane is much more dangerous than carbon dioxide.

·         Agricultural practices--- similarly, the use of fertilizers for agricultural purposes is another reason behind global warming. There are several fertilizers which contain nitrogen such Urea and ammonium phosphate. These fertilizers release nitrous oxide into atmosphere.

·         Solid-Waste management—we release greenhouse gases through our waste management practices. What we do is collect our waste material and dump it in sanitary landfills. This waste includes solid and liquid substances. After a certain period, this waste turns intro leachate, which ends up releasing methane and nitrous oxide into our not-so-pristine atmosphere. 

 

Adverse effects of Greenhouse effect

Rise in global temperature forces alterations in almost every aspect of life. Rising sea level, prolonged period of droughts, frequent wildfires, lethal heatwaves, frost-free seasons, no-so-common spells of rains, destructive cyclones and powerful floods have become realities. Climate Change is the main reason behind all these changes. These extreme weather patterns are wreaking havoc on political, social, economic and cultural spheres of humans. Expect the worst!

·         Agriculture Sector--- With every 1 degree rise in temperature, there will be 5% drop in crop yield. That is largely because the higher temperature reduces the time span for crop fruition. Moreover, there is a risk involved in the form of alteration of soil ingredients mix. Besides, there will not enough water available after many a glaciers melting within a next few years. No wonder, there is going to be food shortage, which certainly paints a bleak picture of future.

·         Freshwater Cycle--- It’s not difficult to imagine glaciers melting faster than normal pace in the wake of a comparatively high temperature. Glaciers are the main source of freshwater for humans. We squeeze 97% of our freshwater from glaciers scattered all over the world. There will be increased vaporization, thus the demand will pick up. Hence, the entire water cycle will be disrupted forcing changes in other sectors.

·         Energy Cycle--- With ominous water scarcity, hydel energy production will experience a downturn for sure. Moreover, the capacity of power plants will be adversely affected as temperature goes up.

·         Biodiversity--- As per reports, 40% of biodiversity will extinct by 2050. Wildfires, heatwaves and droughts have expedited the pace of deforestation. As a result, flora and fauna are losing their habitat. When they are denied natural conditions for survival, they get extinct. A snow leopard cannot survive in some African desert. This is how a mess is being created all around.

·         Human health--- Extreme weather events will prove catastrophic for human health. With excessive rains and floods, expecting some fatal water-borne diseases is not irrational at all. Cholera and Polio may become a routine stuff. Food storage will force millions towards starvation, thus new diseases. Who knows some cousins of COVID-19 may surface to frighten humanity into chaos and anarchy.

·         Coastal areas--- Rising sea level and fierce cyclones never bode well for coastal settlements. When water level goes reasonably up, people living near the edge of the ocean will be forced to move away. Migrations, movements, exoduses, xenophobia and ethnic tensions are the words that pop up in mind. Some Islands like Maldives and Fiji may just disappear into non-existence.

·         Social infrastructure--- Floods always cause destruction. They just don’t discriminate. They flatten everything which comes in their way. Take the floods of 2010 in Pakistan, the economy of the country had incurred losses worth nearly $10 billion after 1/3^rd of the country submerged in water. Schools, libraries, saloons, business centre, crops and livestock were razed to ground.

What can we do to reduce its deleterious effects?

      ·    Phase out fossil fuels--- Now that it has been established that fossil fuels is the main culprit. It is imperative that people who matter the most take measures to jettison fossil fuels. They are doing irreparable damage to our lone but beautiful planet. Unless some concrete measures are taken to do away with fossil fuels, we are heading towards extinction. Renewable sources of energy ought to be the right choice, for they are environmental friendly. Electric cars should replace the ones which require fossil fuels. Similarly, industry must incorporate alternative sources of energy.

·         Green farming--- The farming which does not degrade our environment is called green farming. There is no place for artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Manure is used to here to balance composition of nutrients in soil. Crop rotation is practiced with more enthusiasm. Heat-resistant crops and those which require less water are planted.

·         Solid-waste management---Humans are producing too much waste. First priority would be to reduce the waste. Second, recycling must be given much more attention. Third would be to reuse most of the material we dump in some water body or sanitary landfill.