Greenhouse Gases Essay

1123 Words3 Pages

What are greenhouse gas emissions? A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming. (EPA Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) An analogy of a greenhouse effect is the effect that you get when you go to the beach in a hot summer day and you leave your car with the windows closed. After you come back and open the car door you get a furnacelike blast of heat in your face. Inside the car everything is too hot to touch. This is similar to what the earth experiences when heat enters the atmosphere and is not reflected back. …show more content…

Humans are largely responsible for releasing these gases into the air. Gases like methane is used by farmers in practices such as livestock manure management. Carbon dioxide is released mostly from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Cutting up trees (deforestation) prevents the conversion of CO2 into Oxygen in our planet through a process called photosynthesis. Electricity production causes approximately 67 percent of 2014 greenhouse emissions, transportation contributes about 26 percent, industry is responsible for about 21 percent, commercial and residential generates about 12 percent, agriculture produces 9 percent, and land use and forestry yielded 11 percent. (EPA Environmental Protection Agency,

Open Document