Micah Issitt's Greenhouse Effect: An Overview

In the article “Greenhouse Effect: An Overview,” Micah Issitt, a book writer who translates complex issues for people states, “The Greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring process in which the accumulation of atmospheric gases prevents solar radiation from escaping into space; this radiation then heats the surface of the earth, [modifying temperature and climate].” Therefore, greenhouse gases are necessary to live; but recently, the high amount of greenhouse emissions has been affecting our climate and many other things due to overuse of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, as stated by Merriam Webster, are fuels such as coal, oil, or natural gas formed in the earth from plant or animal remains.

As seen above, the primary sources of greenhouse

Business industries burn these fossil fuels to produce products and when transported, fossil fuels are burned. If one thinks about this, the world currently has a population of about 7.5 billion (“worldometers”). Transportation is almost essential to get to where one wants to be, and electricity is used in many countries around the world. If most of the greenhouse gases are being caused by transportation and electricity, then the greenhouse gas emissions will certainly increase because the population will continue to grow, and industries will continue to transport more and more products for the growing population. The effects of greenhouse emissions are visible in climate, environment, and even animal life. “Encyclopedia Britannica” states, “…human-related increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could lead by the end of the 21st century to an increase in the global

In the article, “Can the World Economy Survive Without Fossil Fuels,” Larry Elliott, an economics article editor states, “The energy needs of a bigger and richer global population have risen sixfold in the past 50 years. Almost 90% of that energy is provided by fossil fuels – coal, gas and oil…” While it is true that industries are benefiting from the use of fossil fuels, the environment is not. When the global economy increases, so does the carbon dioxide emissions since they are needed to create the products that are being sold to the growing population. If the energy needs grew ‘sixfold’ in the past 50 years, one can only imagine how much it will increase in the next 50 years. Elliott also mentions, “…IEA… makes the point that it is time the world got its act together ‘Delaying action is a false economy: for every $1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.’” The results of using renewable energy would be more beneficial if industries and people began to use them sooner. Not only would the environment not benefit from avoiding cleaner technology; but, delaying the use of renewable resources would cost