How to reduce greenhouse gases

The greenhouse gas (GHG) are gases already in the atmosphere and whose function is to absorb and emit radiation from sunlight within the infrared range. These gases are fundamentally responsible for the so-called ” greenhouse effect “; which, despite its negative current connotation, is a natural phenomenon without which the temperature of the earth’s surface would be around -18ºC on average, that is, they are necessary for life to develop on our planet. However, today the concentration of these GHGs is becoming too high, which is causing the environmental havoc that we know today.

Some of these gases are water vapor, the famous carbon dioxide (CO2) , methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and ozone (O3). Find out more in this other AgroCorrn article on How long greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere .

As we mentioned earlier, greenhouse gases are found naturally in the atmosphere in small amounts, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide or methane. However, since the Industrial Revolution, due to the use of machinery and the increase in factories , many other greenhouse gases are produced exclusively from anthropogenic actions, that is, actions of humans , as is the case with aerosols .

Although it is true that, if the amount of greenhouse gases begins to be high, there are natural processes that absorb a part of them to rebalance the atmosphere, but with the emissions produced by man, the natural mechanisms of “restoration of the atmosphere “have been saturated.

Find out more in this other article about the main sources of CO2 emissions .

The most immediate measure, and that you probably already had in mind, to reduce these GHGs is to reduce as much as possible the emissions of this type of gases, such as carbon dioxide, which is generated from the burning of fossil fuels. Here we explain how to reduce my carbon footprint , that is, the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that we generate in a particular way.

From this previous point we deduce, therefore, another measure that can be taken to reduce these emissions, and that is the use of renewable energies , such as solar or wind energy.

From the United Nations (UN) they suggest other actions that we can take ourselves to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions , which are:

• Encouraging the use of public transport or other sustainable means of transport such as bicycles or simply walking to places close to which we often go by car or other means that produce gas emissions. In addition, traveling by bicycle or on foot helps to keep you in good shape, and your health will pay off.
• If you use the car unavoidably, regularly check the pressure of your tires, because if you keep them at an adequate pressure you will optimize the fuel efficiency.
• Recycle the waste you generate and reuse containers or other products before throwing them away.
• Contribute to reforestation work. Calculations ensure that a tree absorbs between 350 and 3,500 kilos of atmospheric carbon throughout its life.
• Insulate your home, as this way the cold or heat will be better preserved inside and we will contribute to improving energy efficiency. In addition, you will reduce the costs that occur with air conditioning and heating devices.

If GHGs are not reduced with actions like these, the consequences of what they already produce can get much worse, as we explain below.

The most immediate consequence of these GHGs is the increase in the greenhouse effect , by which the average surface temperature of the earth’s surface increases. This warming of the climate with its corresponding increase in temperatures is responsible for some consequences such as:

• The melting of the poles , which raises the sea level and increases the risk of floods, with all that these have associated with it.
• Increase in droughts , which will cause air and water pollution due to the absence of rains that “clean” the atmosphere.

This increase in the greenhouse effect seems to have been accelerated due to the rapid rise in the amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. The reason for this seems to be that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the terrestrial biosphere (plants, oceans …) has probably been reduced.

Other serious consequences derived from the increase in the greenhouse effect are:

• Health problems such as skin cancer due to increased solar radiation.
• High intensity atmospheric phenomena, such as storms, hurricanes, tidal waves …
• Problems in biodiversity , since species of flora and fauna will be affected in their different ecosystems.
• Acidification of the oceans. The oceans absorb a large amount of atmospheric CO2 to buffer its high atmospheric concentration, however, when the ocean becomes saturated, the acidification process begins, which will affect marine species causing diseases, deaths and, in extreme cases, extinctions.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to reduce greenhouse gases , we recommend that you enter our Ozone Layer category .