Due to the causes accumulated over hundreds of years, extreme weather is now affecting us. If this situation continues, our lives and the survival of the creatures living on the earth will be jeopardized. To prevent this from happening, we are taking various measures around the world, but there are also things that each of us can do.
Mechanism of global warming
The first thing you need to know as a major premise is the transfer of heat during the day and night. The light and heat emitted by the sun warm the surface of the earth during the day. This causes the temperature to rise during the day, but at night the sun does not shine and the temperature drops. At this time, the heat stored on the surface of the earth is released to the outside of the earth, so the temperature gradually begins to drop at night. This is the original change in temperature, but these have not been done properly in recent years. Since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been retained in the atmosphere on Earth. Excessively released greenhouse gases accumulate heat that should normally go out of the earth at night, causing normal temperature drops and rising average temperatures.
Causes of global warming
As mentioned above, greenhouse gases are the main cause of global warming. Greenhouse gases also have a cause in our lives. The first direct cause is the use of automobiles. In many countries around the world, including Japan, automobiles are indispensable for transportation, but the number of automobiles will increase, which will cause traffic congestion.
Gasoline is the fuel for automobiles, and if it is burned, carbon dioxide will be generated, which will increase the factors that cover the earth as greenhouse gases. As traffic jams increase, so does idling, which increases the amount of time it takes to release carbon dioxide. The expansion and deforestation due to farmland, deforestation of tropical rain forest in the tropics is also a big factor.
Plants absorb carbon dioxide, but forests, in particular, consume large amounts of carbon dioxide. However, deforestation will not reduce carbon dioxide and will continue to increase as a greenhouse gas. The main indirect cause is the use of electrical appliances.
Electricity is required to use electrical appliances. This electricity is produced at a power plant, where coal and oil are burned. Carbon dioxide emissions account for 70% of greenhouse gases, but most of them are derived from such fossil fuels. Currently, Japan has no choice but to rely on such thermal power generation, and if we continue to use a large number of electrical appliances, the number of greenhouse gases will increase accordingly.
In addition, chlorofluorocarbons, which are used as refrigerants in air conditioners and refrigerators, and methane are generated from food waste and paddy fields, which are also part of greenhouse gases.