Greenhouse Gasses by Colter Adams
Greenhouse Gases are gases that deteriorate the ozone layer by, similar to a greenhouse, trapping heat from the sun inside, without letting it out. This causes the earth to heat up at an immense rate. These gases do two major things to our earth. They cause sea level rise by melting polar ice-caps, and never before seen weather fluctuation causing more frequent natural disasters. Sea level rise can harm humans by causing massive flooding in our coastal cities and towns. To put it into proportion, sea level rise, at the rate it is going, will flood New York City with a permanent average of 3ft. Weather Fluctuation causes more frequent natural disasters, as well as extreme heat which can cause heat strokes, and dehydration in extreme heat, and pneumonia, and frostbite in extreme cold. Now that you know a little bit about the environmental impacts of climate change, it is time to learn what greenhouse gasses can do to harm the health of plants, as well as humans and other animals, the history of greenhouse gas emissions, and what we can do to stop these emissions.
Greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming and are caused primarily by factory and transportation exhaust. The chemicals in exhaust are known to cause coughing, sneezing, upset stomachs, and other cold-like symptoms. Long-term effects of exhaust exposure have been proven to be very similar if not worse than smoking, on the human body, resulting in shortened life spans, chronic fatigue, sensual degradation (loss of senses), and cancer, as well as asthma, and other pulmonary (lung) disorders. The effects on animals and ecosystems are equally devastating as the effects on human health, causing botanical ecological damage, and the rise of invasives that thrive in, or are not damaged by polluted environments such as algae (through ), rats, and jellyfish. These animals don't experience the same health problems as the native plants and animals do (similar to the human health problems listed above). Some of these invasives are known as scavengers, and can survive in environments destroyed by carbon emissions, while other native animals and plants cannot. These animals take over what is left of the demising native populations by consuming their foods, and in the case of species like the Galapagos Parasitic Fly, and the lion-fish, consuming them.
Now that you know what greenhouse gasses are and what they do, it is important to know their history. This is important because by tracking the greenhouse gas history, we can find out who is responsible for them, and how we can prevent producing greenhouse gases. The earliest records of greenhouse gasses goes back to the early days of livestock raising, specifically the farming of cows. Now cows were, and are a very important source of protein today, and also taste very good, but believe it or not, cows actually produce a type of carbon emission called methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that can be produced by cow flatulence, and depletes the ozone layer just like any carbon emission. Now although this ozone depletion was very minor, as not a significant amount of methane was produced, the gas was known to cause several side-effects including headaches and nausea for the farmers in the fields with the cows. This may not seem to be a very vital issue, but it helps us understand the process it takes to deplete the ozone layer, and how greenhouse gasses can be created, in this case, through a cow's digestive system. Now the first time ozone depletion and climate change became a real problem was with the first usage of coal. Now coal is a fossil fuel, and all fossil fuels, when burned, produce a greenhouse gas called Carbon Dioxide, but we know this waste that fossil fuels produce when burned as exhaust (because exhausted means used up, so exhaust means the unusable leftovers). The smoke-like exhaust put into the atmosphere primarily came from trains, but soon in the birth of a new age, the industrial revolution, it came from factories, coal plants (for electricity), and, worst of all, cars. Cars began as a luxurious item for the very wealthy, but with Henry Ford's creation of the assembly line automobile, soon almost every adult had a car. In the next 80 years, through every day energy usage, wars, and transportation, we managed to damage our ozone layer so much, that soon there became a word for ozone layer depletion; global warming.
Now the damage humans have done to our ozone layer is irreversible by us, but if we learn to control our release of carbon emissions, the earth will have time to heal. Now if you are interested in specifically global warming, see the article "Intro into Climate Change," which contradicts the conspiracy theory that global warming doesn't exists, and briefly explains the side-effects of global warming. Anyways, you might be wondering how it is possible to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and save our ozone layer. For starters pinpoint the things you know you do that produce greenhouse gasses, and reduce your usage of them. For example drive your car less, or turning off the lights so that you don't use electricity, as electricity is mostly created by burning fossil fuels. Then you can start looking into things you use that indirectly produce greenhouse gasses, and finding ways to moderate your usage. This includes avoiding eating huge quantities of cow meat, and avoiding buying from companies that make their products by only burning fossil fuels (there are companies that use solar, geothermal, and wind power). The final step to lowering your carbon emissions is speaking out against the burning of fossil fuels and teaching people about climate change. 2/5 of Americans believe that Climate Change doesn't exist so try to convince these people that it does. There are many ways to do this including starting a blog, a Climate Change Awareness club, or donating to climate change non-profits such as EcoAmerica. If you take these steps, you can help stop climate change.
Greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming and are caused primarily by factory and transportation exhaust. The chemicals in exhaust are known to cause coughing, sneezing, upset stomachs, and other cold-like symptoms. Long-term effects of exhaust exposure have been proven to be very similar if not worse than smoking, on the human body, resulting in shortened life spans, chronic fatigue, sensual degradation (loss of senses), and cancer, as well as asthma, and other pulmonary (lung) disorders. The effects on animals and ecosystems are equally devastating as the effects on human health, causing botanical ecological damage, and the rise of invasives that thrive in, or are not damaged by polluted environments such as algae (through ), rats, and jellyfish. These animals don't experience the same health problems as the native plants and animals do (similar to the human health problems listed above). Some of these invasives are known as scavengers, and can survive in environments destroyed by carbon emissions, while other native animals and plants cannot. These animals take over what is left of the demising native populations by consuming their foods, and in the case of species like the Galapagos Parasitic Fly, and the lion-fish, consuming them.
Now that you know what greenhouse gasses are and what they do, it is important to know their history. This is important because by tracking the greenhouse gas history, we can find out who is responsible for them, and how we can prevent producing greenhouse gases. The earliest records of greenhouse gasses goes back to the early days of livestock raising, specifically the farming of cows. Now cows were, and are a very important source of protein today, and also taste very good, but believe it or not, cows actually produce a type of carbon emission called methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that can be produced by cow flatulence, and depletes the ozone layer just like any carbon emission. Now although this ozone depletion was very minor, as not a significant amount of methane was produced, the gas was known to cause several side-effects including headaches and nausea for the farmers in the fields with the cows. This may not seem to be a very vital issue, but it helps us understand the process it takes to deplete the ozone layer, and how greenhouse gasses can be created, in this case, through a cow's digestive system. Now the first time ozone depletion and climate change became a real problem was with the first usage of coal. Now coal is a fossil fuel, and all fossil fuels, when burned, produce a greenhouse gas called Carbon Dioxide, but we know this waste that fossil fuels produce when burned as exhaust (because exhausted means used up, so exhaust means the unusable leftovers). The smoke-like exhaust put into the atmosphere primarily came from trains, but soon in the birth of a new age, the industrial revolution, it came from factories, coal plants (for electricity), and, worst of all, cars. Cars began as a luxurious item for the very wealthy, but with Henry Ford's creation of the assembly line automobile, soon almost every adult had a car. In the next 80 years, through every day energy usage, wars, and transportation, we managed to damage our ozone layer so much, that soon there became a word for ozone layer depletion; global warming.
Now the damage humans have done to our ozone layer is irreversible by us, but if we learn to control our release of carbon emissions, the earth will have time to heal. Now if you are interested in specifically global warming, see the article "Intro into Climate Change," which contradicts the conspiracy theory that global warming doesn't exists, and briefly explains the side-effects of global warming. Anyways, you might be wondering how it is possible to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and save our ozone layer. For starters pinpoint the things you know you do that produce greenhouse gasses, and reduce your usage of them. For example drive your car less, or turning off the lights so that you don't use electricity, as electricity is mostly created by burning fossil fuels. Then you can start looking into things you use that indirectly produce greenhouse gasses, and finding ways to moderate your usage. This includes avoiding eating huge quantities of cow meat, and avoiding buying from companies that make their products by only burning fossil fuels (there are companies that use solar, geothermal, and wind power). The final step to lowering your carbon emissions is speaking out against the burning of fossil fuels and teaching people about climate change. 2/5 of Americans believe that Climate Change doesn't exist so try to convince these people that it does. There are many ways to do this including starting a blog, a Climate Change Awareness club, or donating to climate change non-profits such as EcoAmerica. If you take these steps, you can help stop climate change.