Liceaga

Greenhouse Effect
Over the few past decades there has been much discussion about
global warming and its negative effects on the planet we live. There are
many who agree that global warming is becoming more and more noticeable
and very hazardous to our planet and this is due to the neglect of humans. In
this essay I hope to educate the reader on what the greenhouse effect is,
greenhouse gases, the man-made causes of the greenhouse effect, and also
what impact the greenhouse effect may have on the populations health.
While many claim that global warming is not mankinds fault I am here to
show why it is.
Over several years scientists everywhere have collected data to help
them better understand the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect
according to William D. Nordhaus (p. 1) happens when Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
And other greenhouse gases (GHGs) get trapped within our atmosphere.
With all of these elements getting confined within our atmosphere we see
what we call the greenhouse effect that leads to global warming. The
greenhouse effect is getting increasingly worse as time goes by and humans
are the main cause for this effect.
According to NASA (1) there are 5 gases (GHGs) that contribute to the
the greenhouse effect. Water vapor is one of the contributors to the
greenhouse effect. It is not only the most profuse greenhouse gas but it also
increases as the earth atmosphere warms making it a key factor in the

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greenhouse effect. Carbon Dioxide (CO2), although a very minor component
in the earths atmosphere is also a major attributing factor in the greenhouse
effect. It is caused by respiration, deforestation, and the burning of fossil
fuels. Methane is a hydrocarbon that is a result of the decomposing of waste,
as well as agriculture. Methane has a far greater impact on the greenhouse
affect than Carbon Dioxide (CO2), but is also less abundant in our earths
atmosphere. Next we have Nitrous Oxide, an extremely potent greenhouse
gas that is a result of commercial and organic fertilizers, as well as biomass
burning. And lastly we have Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs.) these are manmade compounds that were produced mainly for industrialization of the
world. Although Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are now regulated in production,
they are still a part of the greenhouse effect and contribute to the
destruction of our earths ozone layer. Not that all of these chemicals are
used in mans everyday life. As we increase our use of these chemicals in our
daily lives we will see the greenhouse worsen.
The belief that humans are the cause of 90%-100% of the greenhouse
effect is shared by a large number of climate scientists according to John
Cook (1). The first of the many ways humans contribute to the greenhouse
effect is electricity. Electricity releases Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4),
and Nitrous Oxide (N2O). Studies show that electricity made up to 30% of the
greenhouse effect in 2014. Another factor that is cause by humans that adds
to the greenhouse effect is transportation. This area includes all the methods
that humans use to travel such as cars, trucks, trains, ships, airplanes, and

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other vehicles. All of these modes of transportation emit Carbon Dioxide
(CO2) that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Transportation was the 2nd
major contributor to the greenhouse effect in 2014. This data shows that
humans are the cause for global warming.
Industry emissions create all of the materials we use in our everyday
life. There are 2 aspects to industry emission one of them being direct and
the other being indirect. Direct emissions from industries come from burning
fuel for power or heat, through chemical reactions, and from leaks from
industrial processes or equipment. Indirect emissions come from burning
fossil fuels at a power plant in order to produce electricity which leads to the
production of materials by the industry. All together industry emissions make
up for 21% of the greenhouse effect. These are the three main components
that produce a vast majority of the greenhouse effect. The industry is a
major contributor to global warming and it is produced by mankind
There are major health effects we can see in future of the greenhouse
effect according to Anthony McMichael. One of the effects we can see in the
future are temperature extremes (more hot days and fewer cold days) from
these extremes we can see more daily deaths by disease due to the heat.
There will also be more flooding in the world, this can lead to more deaths,
spread of infectious disease, and also mental disorders. We can also see an
increase in aero-allergen production which will lead to an increase in allergy
disorders. There will be a greater risk for food-poisoning with the increase in
temperature which can lead to fatalities. There will also be a decline in local

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fisheries as well as in protein (in impoverished populations) and an increased
chance for contamination. All of these side effects will be caused by humans
and in order for this to stop we must be wary and informed on this issue.
In this essay I hoped I could have in formed the reader about the
critical state that humans have put our world in due to the greenhouse
effect. I hope to increase the understanding of the greenhouse effect to
avoid to worsening of its condition. I also hoped to have shown the impact
that humans have on global warming and how they are a major cause of the
greenhouse effect.

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Work Cited
Nordhaus, William D. To Slow or Not to Slow: The Economics of the
Greenhouse Effect. The
Economic Journal, vol. 101, no. 407, 1991, pp. 920937.
www.jstor.org/stable/2233864
NASA. "A Blanket around the Earth." NASA, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
http://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
"Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions." EPA. Environmental Protection
Agency, n.d.
Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
McMichael, Anthony J. "Climate Change and Human Health: Present and
Future Risks."
Thelancet.com. The Lancet, 11 Mar. 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
http://www.thelancet.com/action/showFullTableImage?
tableId=tbl1&pii=S0140673606680793
John Cook, et al, "Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus
estimates on human-caused
global warming," Environmental Research Letters Vol. 11 No. 4, (13
April 2016); http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/17489326/8/2/024024/meta
Macmillan, Amanda. "Global Warming 101." NRDC. NRDC, 11 Mar. 2016.
Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

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https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101