What harm does the greenhouse effect cause to humans?

Nowadays, more and more environmental problems have emerged, which have also attracted more and more people’s attention. The greenhouse effect was proposed very early. Maybe people are now paying more attention to the emerging problems. Regarding environmental issues, there is not much concern about the greenhouse effect. What we must face is that the greenhouse effect still exists and is still serious. We should have a deeper understanding of its causes and hazards, which can prompt humans to take a series of measures. To reduce the greenhouse effect and the harm it brings, better protect our environment, protect the earth we live on, and provide a clean land for our descendants.

First of all, we know that carbon dioxide can prevent surface heat from radiating into space and has the function of regulating the earth's temperature. Without carbon dioxide, the Earth's average annual temperature would be 20°C lower than today. But carbon dioxide is also the main cause of the greenhouse effect. On July 4, 1988, "Happiness", an influential American magazine, published an article that attracted world attention. The author believed that there will be a very harsh climate in the 21st century. The rise is higher and faster than ever before, the global climate will be chaotic and abnormal, and the world economy will be significantly affected. The main reason for the above situation is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gasoline. The carbon dioxide produced by combustion rapidly accumulates in the atmosphere. Gases such as chlorofluorocarbons, which are much less than carbon dioxide but equally harmful, are also increasing rapidly. In the Earth's atmosphere, these gases act like greenhouse glass, letting in sunlight but trapping heat. They absorb rather than reflect heat-generating infrared radiation, which keeps Earth's temperatures rising. Especially in recent decades, due to the rapid increase in population and rapid industrial development, the carbon dioxide produced by breathing and the carbon dioxide produced by the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas have far exceeded past levels. According to statistics and calculations, the global emissions into the atmosphere due to combustion The carbon in China has been increasing slowly for six consecutive years, reaching 5.925 billion tons in 1994. . On the other hand, due to the indiscriminate deforestation, a large amount of farmland has been built into cities and factories, destroying vegetation and reducing the conditions for converting carbon dioxide into organic matter. The carbon added to the atmosphere is also between 110 and 360 million tons. In addition, surface waters are gradually shrinking and precipitation is greatly reduced, which reduces the conditions for absorbing dissolved carbon dioxide and destroys the dynamic balance of carbon dioxide generation and transformation, causing the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere to increase year by year. Since the mid-18th century, carbon dioxide, water, and other greenhouse gases have reached concentrations unprecedented in the past 160,000 years. The increase in carbon dioxide content in the air has caused changes in the earth's temperature. This is the greenhouse effect. (Of course, in addition to carbon dioxide, there are other gases that form the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide accounts for about 75%, chlorofluoroalkane accounts for about 15% to 20%, and there are more than 30 types such as methane and nitric oxide. )

Understanding the causes of the greenhouse effect, many of which are caused by human beings' own destruction. Due to economic development, a large number of factory buildings have been built, which has also brought about the consequences of emitting a large amount of polluting gases into the atmosphere. The need for wood production has caused a large-scale reduction of forests... As civilization progresses, the greenhouse effect is also intensifying...

Let's discuss the dangers of the greenhouse effect. .

The greenhouse effect has significant characteristics such as wide scope of influence, complex restricting factors, and serious consequences. Global climate change is a direct consequence of the greenhouse effect. Therefore, the greenhouse effect is a major environmental problem faced by mankind. It has attracted great attention from governments and scientists of various countries and has become the focus of attention and research by scientists and environmental workers. The greenhouse effect's impact on the ecological environment mainly includes the following aspects

1. The impact of sea level

Global warming has the following two impacts on the ocean, leading to sea level rise.

(1) Global warming will cause the ocean mixed layer water temperature to rise, and the thermal expansion caused by warming can significantly cause sea level rise;

(2) Rise in air temperature and seawater temperature It will cause massive melting of the polar ice caps, and the melted ice caps will enter the oceans and contribute to sea level rise. If the temperature rises significantly in the future, it will have a huge impact on the polar regions. At that time, polar glaciers and ice caps will melt massively, and their contribution to sea level rise will far exceed the contribution of the thermal expansion of the mixed layer. In the next century, the average global sea level rise rate will be about 6cm every 10 years. It is expected that by 2030, sea level will rise by 20cm, and by the end of the next century, sea level will rise by 65cm. This change in sea level will It will bring the following impacts and disasters to coastal areas:

⑴ Submerge coastal land and cause waste of land resources, especially coastal cities and cultivated land resources.

⑵Freshwater resources and reserves are reduced

⑶The living environment of marine life has been changed, and a large number of people have died or been forced to migrate, causing certain damage to the fishery.

⑷Beaches and coasts will suffer erosion;

⑸The groundwater level will rise, leading to soil salinization;

⑹Seawater intrusion and flooding will intensify;

p>

⑺Damage port equipment and coastal buildings, affecting shipping;

⑻Coastal aquaculture will be affected;

⑼Damage the water supply and drainage system;

⑽ Causes changes in temperature zones, expansion of hot and cold zones, and shrinking of temperate zones, causing damage to agriculture

2. Impact on agriculture

The most obvious impact is on agriculture. As the concentration of carbon dioxide increases, the plant's stomata (pores through which gas and water vapor pass) only need to open a little smaller to receive the same amount of carbon dioxide. In this way, the plant loses less water due to evaporation. The result is The plant will grow larger. If crops grow faster, they may absorb all the nutrients in the soil faster, and farmers will have to buy more chemical fertilizers. Grain quality may decrease as carbon dioxide increases because the carbon content of the leaves may increase and the nitrogen content may decrease. In the greenhouse effect, pests and diseases are more likely to spread. However, the greenhouse effect can cause a series of environmental and climate problems, such as pest reproduction, increased drought, etc. They can fundamentally worsen the growing environment of crops, thus posing serious harm. This is quite detrimental to agriculture. As the temperature rises, the start time of pest development may advance, and the number of breeding generations of pests in a year will also increase. Under new suitable environmental conditions, the population of some pests will grow exponentially, causing multiple problems in farmland. The probability of victimization increases. On the other hand, as winter gets warmer, pests and diseases are more likely to overwinter, and the source of pests and diseases increases. What is even more serious is that migratory pests of many major crops are more widely distributed and more harmful than today. The area where armyworms breed in cross-season has greatly expanded. Due to the reduced temperature difference between north and south, migratory pests such as armyworms and rice planthoppers have become more serious. The peak period of pests migrating northward in spring will be advanced, while the period of returning southward in autumn will be delayed, extending the duration of the damage. In addition, the migration paths of migratory pests in spring and autumn will also be affected, causing corresponding changes in the distribution areas where they are concentrated. Climate warming will change the geographical distribution of crop pathogens and increase the spread of pests and diseases. The excessive growth of weeds means that large amounts of pesticides and herbicides have to be applied, which will aggravate environmental pollution. This requires more pesticide management. The pesticide industry means serious pollution of our environment.

The impact of the greenhouse effect on plants is mainly reflected in two aspects: the impact of increased CO2 content on plant photosynthesis; and the impact of climate warming on plants. CO2 is the basic raw material for photosynthesis of plants. When the CO2 content increases, the production capacity of plants can be improved to a certain extent. As the temperature rises, some originally cold areas will also become suitable for crop growth, expanding the plant growth area. This It's a plus side.

3. Impact on forestry and animal husbandry

Global warming has many impacts on forestry and animal husbandry. The increase in carbon dioxide concentration will increase the photosynthesis of natural vegetation. Coupled with the increase in temperature, the growth period will be extended, so the yield of grass and trees will increase. As the temperature rises, the vegetation belt will move northward, that is, cold temperate forest or temperate grassland will replace it. The current boreal forest, and the subtropical forest will be replaced by tropical forest; as the temperature and precipitation change, the types of forest trees and pastures will likely change, especially forage, if an inferior grass species can better adapt to the changed environment , rapidly growing and occupying the grassland, will likely greatly reduce the productivity of the grassland; as the temperature rises, if there is no corresponding increase in precipitation, the air humidity may decrease, which increases the possibility of fires; at the same time, warm winters can Reduce the overwintering mortality of pests, thereby aggravating the threat of pests.

4. Impact on human health

(1) Global warming directly leads to ultra-high temperatures in some areas in summer. Because of heart disease and various respiratory diseases, they occur every year. It has claimed the lives of many people, among which newborns and the elderly are most at risk.

(2) Global warming has led to an increase in ozone concentration. Ozone in low altitudes is a very dangerous pollutant that can damage lung tissue and cause asthma or other lung diseases.

(3) Global warming causes the spread of certain infectious diseases. When a mosquito bites a person carrying an infectious virus, the virus will follow the blood into the mosquito's body and begin to multiply, and then enter a healthy person through the next bite to complete the spread of the virus. As the temperature rises within a certain temperature range, the reproduction rate and biting rate of mosquitoes are greatly increased, and the reproduction and maturation rate of viruses in their bodies will also increase. Rising temperatures at night and in winter have greatly extended the life span and area of ??mosquitoes, increasing the incidence of malignant infectious diseases such as malaria, scarlet fever, jaundice, and encephalitis that they spread.

(4) Global warming will cause different natural disasters in different regions, directly leading to a reduction in food production, and also subjecting local residents to the threat of hunger and malnutrition. It will also accelerate the spread of certain water-borne viruses. spread rate, such as encephalitis, dysentery, high fever, etc.

5. Impact on climate

As greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, etc.) enhance atmospheric reverse radiation, global temperatures will generally rise, making the tropics almost uninhabitable. ;.Strong convective weather worsens.

Strong convective weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, thunderstorms and strong winds are frequent; the melting of the North and South Poles affects ocean currents, causing sea water temperatures to change, thereby making the continental climate abnormal; in general, climate abnormalities can lead to droughts, Floods, lightning, hurricanes, storm surges, sandstorms, frost, blizzards and other disastrous weather events. This in turn leads to geological disasters such as mudslides and ground subsidence.

6. Melting Glaciers

1998 was the warmest year on record in the eastern United States. In this year, the Antarctic ice sheet of 2,850 square kilometers melted from Wilkins and The Larson Ice Shelf split off. Other parts of the Antarctic ice sheet are also retreating.

Mountain Carstanz in Indonesia is the only mountain in hot Asia with a permanent snow cover on the top. But in recent centuries, the glaciers on Mount Carstanz have shrunk significantly, causing the snowline to rise by about 100 meters.

Except for the ice caps in the polar regions, Himalayan glaciers are the largest component of the world's ice mass, with approximately 15,000 glaciers in total. The meltwater from these glaciers is the source of water for the world's oldest rivers, the Indus and Ganges. If the waters of these two great rivers dried up or were reduced to a trickle, the basic building blocks of agricultural society would be completely destroyed.

In recent years, glaciers in the Alps from Patagonia to Switzerland have been observed melting due to emissions of "greenhouse" gases and what is widely believed to be the greenhouse effect. In South Asia, the question is not whether glaciers are melting, but how fast? While many of the ill effects of global warming may not become severe until the end of the 21st century, melting glaciers in places like Nepal, India, Pakistan, China and Bhutan could cause problems soon. The icebergs in the Arctic and Antarctic will melt significantly, causing sea levels to rise significantly. Some island countries and coastal cities will be submerged in water, including several famous international cities: New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney.

A research report by the International Commission on Snow and Ice (ICSI) states: "The glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating faster than anywhere else in the world. If the current rate of melting continues, these glaciers will be The possibility of disappearing before the year is very high." Said Hasnain, head of the International Snow and Ice Commission, said: "Even if the glacier melt water dries up in 60 to 100 years, the scope of the impact of this ecological disaster will be shocking."

7. The impact of global warming on biodiversity

Global warming is not a new phenomenon. In the past 2 million years, the earth has experienced 10 cycles of alternating warm and cold periods. During the warm period, the polar ice caps melted, sea levels were higher than today, and species distributions expanded poleward and migrated to higher altitudes. Instead, during the transformation process, ice caps expanded, sea levels dropped, and species moved toward the equator and to lower altitudes. Undoubtedly, many species will become extinct in this process of repeated changes, and existing species are the products that survive these changes. Species can adapt to past changes, but can they adapt to future climates altered by human activity? This is an open question. But what is certain is that natural fluctuations in global warming caused by human factors have been much faster in the past, so the impact of such changes on biodiversity will be huge.

(1) Impact on temperate biodiversity As temperatures continue to rise, the north temperate and south temperate climate zones will expand toward the poles. Climate change will inevitably lead to species migration. However, based on the speedometer of natural dispersal, many species appear to be unable to migrate at high rates to keep up with today's rapid climate change. This can be seen by comparing species migration rates in deciduous broadleaf forests in eastern North America. When the most recent Pleistocene ice age passed and temperatures rose, trees migrated back to North America at a rate of 10 to 40 kilometers per world. According to estimates that temperatures will rise by 1.5 to 4.5°C in the 21st century, trees will migrate 5,000 to 10,000 kilometers north. Obviously it is impossible to spread at a rate dozens of times faster than in the natural state. Moreover, habitat fragmentation caused by human activities can only reduce species migration rates. Therefore, many species with limited distribution or poor dispersal ability will undoubtedly become extinct during the migration process. Only species with a wide distribution range and easy diffusion can establish their own communities in new habitats.

(2) Impact on tropical rainforest biodiversity Tropical rainforests have the largest species diversity. Although global temperature changes have a much smaller impact on the tropics than on the temperate zones. However, climate warming will lead to changes in the amount and timing of tropical rainfall. In addition, forest fires and hurricanes will become more frequent. These factors will have a huge impact on species composition and plant reproduction time, thereby changing the structural composition of tropical rainforests.

(3) Impact on the biodiversity of coastal wetlands and coral reefs Wetlands and coral reefs are ecosystems rich in biodiversity, but they are also threatened by climate warming. Rising temperatures will melt mountain glaciers and shrink Antarctic ice sheets. In the next 50 to 100 years, sea level will rise by 0.2 to 0.9 meters or even higher. Rising sea levels will flood coastal wetland communities. Sea levels are changing so quickly that many species of organisms have no time to move to the appropriate areas as the water rises.

In particular, residential buildings, roads, flood control dams, etc. built in wetland areas will become direct obstacles to species migration.

Rising sea levels will be extremely harmful to coral reef species. Because corals have strict requirements on the combination of light and water flow in the seawater. If seawater rises at the budgeted rate, even the fastest growing corals will not be able to adapt to the change. In addition, rising sea temperatures will also cause great harm to corals. This will cause a large number of corals to sink and die.

In general, there are two sources of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere: natural and human activities. The concentration of various greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, leading to an intensification of the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the most important gas causing the greenhouse effect. The increase in the greenhouse effect will lead to global warming, which will affect water resources, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, etc.; rising sea levels will submerge many coastal cities and lowlands; some areas will become dry and desertification will intensify; biodiversity reduce. In short, changes in the global ecosystem will ultimately affect human health and survival

······

From these we will see what consequences the greenhouse effect will bring to us. Are you afraid of the danger? Worried? Can humans survive? We must take appropriate actions to reduce the harm caused by the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is mainly caused by the excessive burning of coal, oil and natural gas in modern industrial society. After these fuels are burned, a large amount of carbon dioxide gas is released into the atmosphere. Therefore, it is urgent to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In order to reduce excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, on the one hand, people need to save electricity as much as possible (because coal is burned for power generation) and drive less cars. On the other hand, protect forests and oceans, such as not deforestation. Cut down forests and prevent the ocean from being polluted to protect the survival of plankton. We can also protect green plants through afforestation, reduce the use of disposable wooden chopsticks, save paper (wood used for papermaking), and not trample lawns. They absorb more carbon dioxide to help slow down the greenhouse effect.

Although we have not been able to come up with effective solutions so far, we should at least try our best to curb the growth of emissions and not leave it to fate. Development.

First of all, 2050 is tentatively set as the target. If the current situation continues, it is expected that the average temperature of the earth will increase by more than two degrees by then. If such a significant increase occurs, the earth's climate will cause major changes.

So now, human beings must do their best to take countermeasures and try to suppress the upward trend. Currently, international public opinion is also constantly calling in this direction. Research institutions in various countries have also proposed various specific countermeasures.

Unfortunately, after carefully examining various options, no single countermeasure has been found to be able to solve the problem alone. Therefore, we need to explore all options. Possibilities, comprehensively consider the effectiveness of these countermeasures

1. Comprehensive ban on chlorofluorocarbons

Chlorocarbons are the abbreviation of Chloro-Fluoro-Carbon. A general term for non-flammable organic solvents containing fluorine and chlorine. It is an excellent cleaning agent after welding and assembly of electronic products. However, because it cannot accept biological decomposition and has a very small specific gravity, it will gradually increase and accumulate and destroy the ozone protective layer around the earth. The earth's ecological environment will be attacked by cosmic rays and cause a great crisis.

2. Countermeasures to protect forests

Today's global forests, which rely on tropical rainforests for their livelihood, are under attack. The effective response to the continuous and rapid man-made destruction is to quickly stop this uncontrolled destruction of forests, and on the other hand, implement large-scale afforestation efforts and strive to promote forest regeneration. It is estimated that the amount of carbon dioxide is about 1 to 2gt. of carbon per year. If countries seriously promote deforestation and forest regeneration plans, by 2050, the entire biosphere may absorb the equivalent of 0.7gt. of carbon dioxide per year.

3. Improvement in fuel consumption of automobiles

Japanese automobiles have achieved technological improvements in this regard and have greatly improved their fuel consumption in the past. However, in places such as the United States, this may be due to oil reservoirs. There are no obvious signs of improvement in terms of fuel-saving design, and the cars produced in this region still maintain excessive fuel consumption. Therefore, there is ample room for improvement in fuel design. 4. Improve other aspects. The energy efficiency of various occasions is to improve the energy efficiency of various other occasions. Today's human life uses a lot of energy everywhere, especially in heating and cooling equipment in homes and offices. Therefore, there is still room for significant improvement in improving energy efficiency.

5. Tax the production and consumption of fossil fuels in proportion

This may prompt manufacturers and consumers to be vigilant when using energy and avoid making What a waste. Its tax revenue can be used for forest protection and the development of alternative energy sources.

When any fossil fuel is burned, carbon dioxide is emitted. However, their emissions vary depending on the type of fossil fuel. Since the main component of natural gas is methane, its carbon dioxide emissions are lower than those of coal and petroleum.

To generate one kilocalorie of heat, coal must emit carbon dioxide equivalent to 0.098 grams of carbon; for oil, it is 0.085 grams; if it is replaced by natural gas, it only needs to emit 0.056 grams.

When we decided to do this topic, the members of our group first checked the information and learned about the causes, hazards and corresponding countermeasures of the greenhouse effect. They learned about this topic from different aspects, and we also gained a lot. A lot. Not only did I learn a lot of things that I didn’t know before, but I also understood the importance of the environment to us humans and the earth. From now on, we will pay attention to our behavior and strive to start from small things, bit by bit, to protect the environment and care for the earth. .