It doesn’t matter whether you have a green thumb or not, you will likely be familiar with a greenhouse. These glass structures which house plants are specifically useful in colder months as the plants inside can still receive ample sunlight through the greenhouse windows yet remain warm enough to grow and flourish.
What is happening to our planet is similar to a greenhouse; however, on a much, much larger scale. The “Greenhouse Effect”, a term widely associated with all this talk of climate change and global warming, describes what is happening. To explain, the sun provides heat and light to Earth. While glaciers, lakes and even metal buildings reflect these rays back skyward (much like a giant mirror would do …), our own atmosphere traps much of this heat. We can thank our atmosphere for retaining much of this heat for us to enjoy. I like to compare this to that extra blanket or two which keeps you cozy during winter nights. It’s a simple analogy; however, without this occurring, all the heat would escape and we would experience chillier temperatures on a year-round basis.
The danger, however, lies from below and not above our atmosphere. Through our own careless human actions, we are releasing harmful emissions into the air; these cannot escape through our atmosphere. With nowhere to go, this heat then radiates back downwards and further warms our Earth. While we are building and burning, our planet is further at-risk. This excessive heat causes drought, wildfires and extensive harm to both animal and plant species. We have already seen much damage and further devastation is well possible.
We cannot simply pull off that extra blanket off of our bed to make things more comfortable. Cooling our planet is a far more monstrous task. But, with understanding the greenhouse effect, we are more aware of what is happening and what is needed to stop this. Greenhouses are intended for creating life – not destroying it.
