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5. Landfills.
Landfills also release carbon dioxide and methane gas that adds to the greenhouse
gases.
Effects of Greenhouse Effect.
Some of the major effects of increases greenhouse gases are:
1. Global Warming
It is the phenomenon of gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth's
atmosphere. The main cause of this environmental issue is that increased volumes
of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane released by the burning
of fossil fuels, emissions from the vehicles, industries, and other human activities.
Effects of Global Warming
The major effects of global warming are.
i. Melting glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts will cause more
dramatic water shortages.
ii. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding. And the coastal areas will be
submerged under the water.
iii. Forestes, farms, and cities will face heat waves, heavy downpours, and
increased flooding. All these factors will damage or destroy agriculture and
fisheries.
iv. Disruption of habitats could lead many plants and animal species to
extinction.
v. Allergies, asthma, and infectious disease will become more common due to
air pollution.
vi. Global warming can reduce rainfall in some areas of the earth leading to
droughts. This can cause the death of many plants and animals, and turn
large areas of the earth into semi-deserts.
2. Depletion of the Ozone layer
The ozone layer protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. it is
found in the upper regions of the stratosphere. The depletion of the ozone layer
results in the entry of the harmful UV rays of the sun to the earth’s surface that might
lead to skin cancer and can also change the climate drastically.
The major cause of this phenomenon is the accumulation of natural greenhouse
gases including CFCs, carbon dioxide, methane, etc.
Controlling air pollution
The air over most of the cities in our country is highly polluted. This polluted air is damaging
our health and property gradually. So, air pollution must be controlled as soon as possible.
Some of the ways are:
1. By using smokeless fuelslike LPG, biogas, etc for cooking and domestic uses. Solar
cookers can also be used for cooking
2. Air pollution from motor vehicles can be reduced by using CNG as fuel in place of petrol
and diesel.
3. The air pollution from factories, thermal power plants, oil refineries, etc can be controlled
by washing down their smoke and waste gases with jets of water. In this way, the soot
(unburnt carbon particles) is washed away and most of the poisonous gases like sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen oxides get dissolved in water.
4. By using non-polluting sources of energy like solar energy, wind energy and
hydroenergy for generating electricity.
Our role in controlling pollution
We can also contribute in the efforts to control air pollution.
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