Ever wondered what are the reasons behind the increasing air temperature of Earth?
We all are nowadays familiar with the term global warming as it's considered as a dreadful threat to humanity as well as plants and animals. It is a result of the excessive release of greenhouse gases into the air, referring to the "gradual increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere near Earth's surface". This has been disrupting the overall climate pattern in a drastic manner whose disastrous effects are now widely being seen in the ecosystems, water, food, health and more.
Here are some of the most common causes of global warming:
Deforestation: During the photosynthesis process, trees capture carbon dioxide from air and release oxygen into it. As humans across the world cut down trees for various reasons, the carbon stored in those trees gets released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This also occurs a reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide absorption and oxygen release in the air. Deforestation contributes at least 10% in the overall global warming.
Industrial pollution: The industrial sectors burn fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and gas etc. to create heat or electricity for production, transportation, construction and other works. The whole process releases a huge amount of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, CFCs, methane etc. into the air, which contribute to the global warming. Carbon dioxide also gets released into the air through oil drilling and natural gas drilling from several industrial sectors.
Agriculture and farming: The agricultural activities across the world involve using fertilizers, which ultimately results in releasing greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide. Farming is also responsible for global warming, as animals like sheep and cattle produce methane and carbon dioxide (through digestive system) which get absorbed into the atmosphere. Agriculture and farming contribute to more than 12% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the air.
Garbage: Both organic and inorganic waste are responsible for global warming. During the decomposition process of organic waste, greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide get released into the air. Incineration of inorganic waste also releases a huge amount of several greenhouse gases (especially, carbon dioxide) into the air. According to the scientists, waste disposal contributes to more than 18% of the total methane gas in the atmosphere.
Permafrost: Permafrost, found in mostly the cold regions of Earth, is basically ice bound with soil, sand, rocks and other organic matter. When permafrost melts, its organic matter starts decomposing which releases a huge amount of greenhouse gases like methane, carbon dioxide etc. into the atmosphere. This is extremely scary as the situation is getting worse every passing day.
Some other causes of global warming are volcanic eruption, water vapor, air conditioners etc.
