Importance of Greenhouse Effect | Advantages and Disadvantages

Right from primary school, environmental studies or studying about our atmosphere and environment are an important part of the academic curriculum. This is why many students are aware of this subject. But, hardly a few can write an assignment on 'greenhouse effect advantages and disadvantages' in a way that can impress their professor and get them the grades they dream of scoring.

This is because most of the students are not aware of this effect. Hope you know about it, right? If not, then this blog is just for you. Yes! Experts of Instant Assignment Help have put down this blog to explain this topic in detail to students like you. So, you can start reading the below section to know more about it…

What Is the Greenhouse Effect?

It is an obvious and already-known fact that the sun is the ultimate source of light and energy. Every living organism is directly and indirectly dependent on the sun for their life and life processes. One of the primary roles of the sun is to maintain the temperature of the earth. Yes, the weather and climate of our planet are not solely but majorly dependent on the sun.

When sunlight falls on the earth, it absorbs the required amount of heat and reflects back the extra energy into space. There are some gases that reflect this energy back into space. This, thus, maintains the balance of warmth and coolness of the planet. This was the cycle being followed from ages until a hindrance was caused in this lately. In the past few years, the amount of these gases has increased rapidly, which leads to absorbing more heat and reflecting back a little less. This, in turn, increases the warmth of the earth's surface, leading to a rise in the temperature of the planet. This is known as the greenhouse effect.

A Brief History of the Greenhouse Effect

In the year 1896, Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927), a Swedish scientist, was the first person who claimed that the combustion of fossil fuels is the reason behind the rise in global warming. He was the first to propose a relation between the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the planet's temperature.

What Are Greenhouse Gases?

Here are a few gases that trap the heat in the atmosphere, and are known as greenhouse gases:

• Carbon dioxide: Burning of elements like fossil fuels, solid waste, trees, biological materials, and so on lead to the release of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere that is about 81% of the total emissions.
• Methane: At the time of production and transportation of coal, natural gas and oil, decaying of organic waste, and some other agricultural and livestock lead to emission of methane gas that contributes to 10% of the total emission.
• Nitrous oxide: During the agricultural and industrial activities, burning of fossil fuels, treating wastewater, and combustion of solid waste, nitrous oxide is emitted, which contributes to 7% of the total gas emission.
• Fluorinated gases: Various industrial processes emit synthetic and powerful greenhouse gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride are emitted. Though these are emitted in small quantities, they are potent greenhouse gases and thus, are referred to as high global warming potential gases, and they contribute to 3% of total emissions.

What Are the Causes of the Greenhouse Effect?

Human beings, for the sole purpose, to meet their needs, and lead a luxurious life, perform some activities that lead to the rise in the gases which increase the temperature of the planet. Some of those activities are:

• Farming
  Fertilizers are used in farming to improve crop yield quality and save the produce from the pest attack. And nitrous oxide is the main component of this fertilizer, which is also one of the adversely affecting greenhouse gases.
• Deforestation
  Forests take a large amount of carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. But, the rise in deforestation leads to a decrease in the oxygen levels and a rise in the level of carbon dioxide, which is again a greenhouse gas.
• Population Growth
  With the rise in population growth, the demand for food, cloth, and shelter has also been increased. And this modernization and industrialization lead to the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere, which increases the rise of the greenhouse effect.
• Burning of Fossil Fuels
  Electricity and transportation are the two main components of human life. And fossil fuels like coal, natural gases, and oil, produce them. This releases carbon which, when combines with oxygen in the air, produces carbon dioxide and contributes to the greenhouse effect.
• Industrial Waste and Landfills
  Industries that involve cement production, oil production, fertilizers, coal mining activities, and garbage landfills lead to the production of harmful greenhouse gases that increase the greenhouse effect.

This is an insight into the greenhouse effect. If you are writing an assignment on this topic, then you should not miss including this information in your assignment. However, if you want to know the greenhouse effect advantages and disadvantages, you can read the below section.

What Are the Advantages of the Greenhouse Effect?

Here are a few advantages of the greenhouse effect on our planet earth:

1. Maintain Temperature Levels

They help in maintaining a certain temperature level on the earth's surface. It is because a decrease in the greenhouse effect and the level of greenhouse gases can lead the planet freezing. So, it is mandatory that they keep the planet warm and survivable for living organisms.

2. Block Harmful Radiations

They help in blocking harmful solar radiation from reaching the planet's surface. If they directly reach the earth's surface, they can cause adverse effects to life on earth. These gases form a layer around the earth that stops the harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun from reaching us.

3. Maintains Water Level

They help in maintaining the water level on the earth's surface. These gases emit enough warmth to melt the glaciers and thus, maintain the water levels on the earth's surface. They form a natural cycle between vaporizing the water from waterbodies and unfreezing the glaciers.

These are a few advantages of greenhouse effect. These are the ways in which greenhouse gases are contributing to maintain the ecological balance of our planet. If you want to know the disadvantages of the same, then read the below section.

What Are the Disadvantages of the Greenhouse Effect?

Like a coin has two faces; similarly, everything has both good and bad effects. In the context of the greenhouse effect, there are both advantages and disadvantages to our environment. As in the previous section, we have looked at the advantages, let us now take an insight into its disadvantages:

Natural Disasters

As we already know, the greenhouse effect is controlled by the gases, and an increase in the levels of these can lead to the melting of glaciers, polar icecaps, which can further result in tsunamis and floods. Other than this, it can also intensify the effect of other natural disasters, such as cyclones, hurricanes, and so on.

Spread of Diseases

When the temperature rises rapidly, it causes diseases like malaria, dengue, cholera, and other cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Also, the temperature levels can lead to the quick spread of these diseases to a wider area.

Destruction of Marine Life

Marine bodies are known to absorb carbon dioxide in major quantities. And, when the rise of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere increases, it leads to an increase in the absorption of this gas by the water bodies, which, in turn, leads to the rise in alkalinity. This is harmful to marine life and can even destroy it completely.

These are a few disadvantages of greenhouse effect. These are the reasons why it is very important to take quick action to maintain ecological balance. Are you wondering how to contribute to it? Want to know how to tackle this? Just read the below section and know more about it in detail.

How to Deal with the Consequences of the Greenhouse Effect?

A disbalance in the greenhouse effect can turn into a threat to the life of all living organisms. Thus, it becomes mandatory to get this in control and maintain a proper balance to save lives and bring ecological balance on the planet. For this, we can contribute in the following ways:

1. Practice afforestation
2. Use renewable energy
3. Create public awareness
4. Reduce wastage of food
5. Consume organic foods
6. Implement a circular economy
7. Use non-polluting transportation
8. Follow 3R's (Reuse, Recycle & Reduce)
9. Save more energy & natural resources
10. Turn to eco-friendly products & services

These are a few simple practices that can help you contribute your bit to saving our environment. These are the small steps when taken by everyone together can bring a huge change in the current situation by maintaining the ecological balance of our planet.

How to Get a Flawless Assignment on the Greenhouse Effect?

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