If you’ve ever wondered if these environmental changes are just a fad, then this blog post is for you. This will show you the research and statistics that led to our world becoming greener. Can drug dogs smell mushrooms?
This will be a discussion of how conservation efforts from decades ago have resulted in lower pollution and cleaner air, water, and soil. It will also outline how various sustainable energy sources are being utilized in our society to help combat climate change. Finally, it will demonstrate how green jobs continue to grow both in numbers and impact on the economy with more renewable energy technologies being created every year.
1. The Greenhouse Effect
Before humans could harness the power of natural energy sources, they had to find ways to keep warm and stay dry during these cold dark winters. One of these early inventions was the chimney. Chimneys allowed smoke and exhaust to be carried out of buildings so as not to pollute our atmosphere. Additionally, people constructed kilns and furnaces that helped heat their homes throughout the winter months.
The next major invention was the invention of the greenhouse. This took farmers from growing vegetables in their backyards or in small gardens inside of their homes, to large farms where crops could be grown year round.
2. Greenhouse Gasses (Natural Gas)
Before the discovery of natural gas, farmers cooked with wood and coal. However, burning these resources to cook created noxious smoke and ash that were hazardous for humans to breathe. Many homes did not have chimneys or furnaces which led to more pollution with home fires.
With the invention of the first natural gas systems, people could cook and heat their homes with a cleaner carbon-free fuel source. This revolutionized how people lived and how they interacted with one another even in the Industrial Revolution when others would argue about what’s more important: technology or morals .
3. CO 2 in our Atmosphere
The effect that plants had on their surroundings was huge. Not only did they prevent carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere, but they also sped up photosynthesis, which broke down carbon dioxide into oxygen and took carbon away from the atmosphere.
In addition to regulating the amount of CO 2 in our air, plants absorb some of this gaseous molecule. At first, scientists thought that this absorption was a form of respiration between plants and bugs called chemosynthetic symbiosis. However, chemosynthesis was not a suitable explanation because there were no known bugs that could process CO 2 , nor was there any evidence of degradation or metabolism taking place between plants and bugs .
Larger plants release more CO 2 into the atmosphere making them a prime target for deforestation.
4. The Need for Renewable Energy
Even though fossil fuels provided the world with enough energy to run the Industrial Revolution, it was not a sustainable source. Unfortunately, when we burn fossil fuels we release carbon dioxide, which is known to create the greenhouse effect. As a result, our atmosphere is filled with more pollution than ever before. Scientists have found that deforestation has been occurring at an alarming rate. This is due to farmers clearing land for farming and lumbering companies that cut down forests to produce wood and paper products like paper towels and tissues .
5. The Greenhouse Scientist
There are a variety of causes that contribute to global warming along with their sources of origin. One of these sources is power plants that use coal as fuel to generate electricity. These plants release large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a major greenhouse gas that may be even more damaging than carbon dioxide.
The Greenhouse Scientist was an experiment by Dr. Richard Lindzen and Dr. Fred Singer to show how large coal power plants emit huge amounts of carbon, which contributes to global warming. In 1980, they ran the experiment with two coal-fired power stations in Illinois and Texas.
Their results showed that plants were unable to efficiently absorb all the CO 2 emitted by these plants and that it was able to return to the atmosphere once again. This experiment has been replicated many times by many different scientists over the years; however, this does not mean that coal power stations are causing global warming .
6. The Oil Crisis
Oil is an extremely valuable resource, but it is also a resource that has proven to be very fragile. This allows us to see just how much damage we can do to our atmosphere and the environment due to human ingenuity. Unfortunately, this is what has happened with oil production in the Middle East.
With instability in the Middle East, oil companies have been able to exploit this area for energy. In 1973, when the price of oil was higher, there was a rash of nationalism in the Middle East for independence from Israel and Great Britain . In order to ensure continued access and profit from their oil holdings , these countries began cutting trees on their lands which helped increase fire danger throughout these regions.
Conclusion:
Change is necessary, but it’s not clear that this change must come from an abandonment of fossil fuels. We will be able to continue living sustainably with these sources, but we need to make a concerted effort to curb our consumption.
