Mary Robinson - Class Reading Reflection 4

Before this semester, I really didn’t have a solid understanding of what exactly causes climate change and how it happens. Reading about the greenhouse effect really helped me understand how climate change occurs. When sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, some of it is absorbed by the Earth's surface, while some of it is reflected back into space. However, some of the energy that is absorbed by the Earth's surface is re-radiated back into the atmosphere as heat. This heat is then absorbed by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which causes them to vibrate and release some of the energy back into the atmosphere. This energy is then trapped by other greenhouse gases, which causes the atmosphere to warm up. I think that the bathtub analogy really put the greenhouse effect into simple terms, by explaining how when a tub is slightly clogged, the flow of water leaving the tub becomes slower than the flow of water being put in the tub, eventually leading to an overflowing tub. While the greenhouse effect is a natural process that helps to regulate the Earth's temperature, it can also be enhanced by human activities. For example, the burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which can increase the concentration of greenhouse gases and enhance the greenhouse effect. Other human activities, such as deforestation and agriculture, can also contribute to the greenhouse effect by releasing other greenhouse gases, such as methane. To address the challenges posed by the enhanced greenhouse effect, it is important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable practices that can help to mitigate its impacts. This can include reducing reliance on fossil fuels, promoting renewable energy sources, and adopting more sustainable agriculture and land use practices.