Modern human activity has given rise to many environmental problems. Mention of this phenomenon can be seen in news reports, it appears in many sources. What is the greenhouse effect, what exactly is this phenomenon associated with? Is the threat posed by him real, and is it really connected with human activity?

The greenhouse effect, according to scientists, is due to growing pollution of the atmosphere, causing global warming and a lot of problems associated with it. To understand the details of this phenomenon and weigh the risks, you need to consider everything in detail.

Causes of the greenhouse effect

In the pre-industrial era, humanity did not have such a serious impact on the planet. Numerous forests successfully coped with the supply of oxygen to the atmosphere, and the main air pollutant was smoke from chimneys - for nature this was an insignificant phenomenon. However, with the advent of the industrial era, emissions have increased. Smoke from power plants, numerous factory chimneys, cars began to cover the cities, clogging the atmosphere. Cut down forests have ceased to cope with the function of air purification and oxygen supply.

Carbon dioxide and suspensions, aerosols circulating in the atmosphere, began to play the role of a greenhouse film, retaining heat near the surface of the Earth.In the past, heat waves could calmly leave the planet and go into space, but today greenhouse gases reflect part of the heat back to the surface.

The greenhouse effect and the problems caused by it

For this reason, global warming has begun. If the process is not stopped, warming will continue at an increasingly active pace. The results of this process are noticeable today, and they are disastrous. Mountain glaciers are melting rapidly, and the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps are also losing their former size. This leads to an increase in the level of the oceans, flooding of land, climate change.

Many animals die - for example, the polar bear was on the verge of extinction not at all due to extermination, but because of climate changes. The polar ice is melting, and he has nowhere to hunt. Adults, healthy individuals die from exhaustion.

Interesting fact: The best example of a greenhouse effect in action is the planet Venus. Due to the dense dense atmosphere, heat cannot freely leave the surface, warming it to 460 degrees Celsius. Mercury is much closer to the Sun, but does not have such a dense atmosphere, and therefore is heated in the daytime "only" to 430 degrees.

Human guilt or natural phenomenon?

Despite the fact that most scientists blame the greenhouse effect for global warming, there are opponents of this theory. It is worth noting that the temperature on our planet has dynamic indicators. This is difficult to note for one or two human generations, but if you look at historical chronicles, you can find many interesting facts. So, in 1142 the Thames froze, after that it froze another 6 times in different years.And in 1326 the Mediterranean Sea froze. These were abnormally cold periods, but there were also abnormally hot ones.

On our planet, ice ages periodically occur. According to scientists, the polar caps almost came together at one of them at the equator - the planet resembled one big snowball. At the moment, we live between the ice ages - the last of them ended in a thaw 20,000 years ago. The increase in temperature these days may be associated with natural processes, in which case it will be replaced in the future by a natural decrease before a new ice age.

And, finally, it should be noted that colossal atmospheric pollution occurred in the past, without the participation of people. Siberian traps existed 252 million years ago, carbon dioxide during this period was emitted by no less than in the entire history of the existence of mankind. The great Permian extinction began, many species of living creatures and plants disappeared from the face of the planet. However, the planet coped with this disaster, it turned for the benefit of evolution. However, the connection of volcanic activity with extinction has not been proved, and bursts of such activity occurred many times over the history of the planet. Today, humanity lives in a fertile period of volcanic calm, which can only be temporary.

What needs to be done to combat the greenhouse effect?

Agreeing with the opinion of most scientists about the anthropogenic origin of the greenhouse effect and global warming, it is necessary to note the control measures that can be taken to correct the situation.This problem has its own solution, and in most developed countries substantial efforts are really made to normalize the situation. So, people tend to use cleaner sources of energy. Solar and wind power plants do not give soot, because they do not need to burn coal. Energy-efficient appliances that require less electricity are also being created.

The introduction of higher environmental requirements for enterprises, increasing interest in the recycling of raw materials, planting new forests - all this creates the conditions for restoring the planet’s atmosphere and future human well-being. Many countries support these trends, they meet with support at the global level.

Thus, the greenhouse effect is an environmental issue entailing global warming. It is associated with large emissions of carbon dioxide and polluting substances into the atmosphere. Not all scientists agree that global warming is associated with increased emissions, but the need to maintain a clean atmosphere remains an urgent task for all mankind. Today this problem is being solved at the global level.