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Climate change
Greenhouse effect is a major cause of climate change. We contribute to climate change by involving with various activities that emit greenhouse gases, which cause this phenomenon.
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Greenhouse gas - Carbon Dioxide
Rapid industrialization has resulted in the demand for energy for transportation, manufactory, heating, electricity and other applications. The burning of fossil fuels actually produce this energy, however, this activity released an abundance of carbon dioxides into the air, contributing to greenhouse effect and causes climate changes indirectly.
Besides the burning of fossil fuels, another major factor for the increased amount of carbon dioxides in the air is deforestation. Many lands are deforested to make way for grazing land for livestock. This increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air since vegetation put in oxygen into our air, reducing the concentration of carbon dioxides.
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Greenhouse gas - Methane
Another greenhouse gas is methane. There are 2 main sources of methane, namely because of landfills and agricultural activities.
Landfills
Wastes in landfills are decomposed in anaerobic conditions, resulting in the production of methane. Due to the poor maintenance of landfill sites, methane is usually emitted into our atmosphere, which also contributes to greenhouse effect.
Agriculture
Besides landfills, agricultural activities also release methane into our air. Rice or paddy fields are often flooded with water during sowing and maturing periods. Water covers the soil and provides an anaerobic condition for methane producing bacteria and other organisms to decompose organic matter into methane, which is emitted into our atmosphere.
Fertilizers, which are used for agricultural purposes produce a large amount of emissions of nitrous oxides, both from the field and the industries that manufacture them. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are used in refrigerators and air conditioners as solvents. Due to their inert nature, CFCs can stay in our atmosphere for a long time. This prolonged effect results in the depletion of ozone layer. This will increase the overall temperature of the world. Although the contributions of CFCs to climate change is little now, according to the industrialization trend now, their contributions are expected to rise in the future.
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Greenhouse gas - Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide is another form of greenhouse gases, which is produced mainly by agricultural activities.
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Read more in effects of climate change.