Euthrophication

 Eutrophication is a big word that describes a big problem in the nation's estuaries. Harmful
algal blooms, dead zones, and fish kills are the results of a process called eutrophication—
which begins with the increased load of nutrients to estuaries and coastal waters.

 Sixty-five percent of the estuaries and coastal waters in the contiguous U.S. that have been
studied by researchers are moderately to severely degraded by excessive nutrient inputs.
Excessive nutrients lead to algal blooms and low-oxygen (hypoxic) waters that can kill fish and
seagrass and reduce essential fish habitats.

 The primary problems in eutrophication appear to be excess nitrogen and phosphorus—from

sources including fertilizer runoff and septic system effluent to atmospheric fallout from
burning fossil fuels—which enter waterbodies and fuel the overgrowth of algae, which, in
turn, reduces water quality and degrades estuarine and coastal ecosystems.
Air pollution

 While those effects emerge from long-term exposure, air pollution can also cause short-term
problems such as sneezing and coughing, eye irritation, headaches, and dizziness. Particulate
matter smaller than 10 micrometers (classified as PM10 and the even smaller PM2.5) pose
higher health risks because they can be breathed deeply into the lungs and may cross into the
bloodstream.

 Air pollutants cause less-direct health effects when they contribute to climate change. Heat
waves, extreme weather, food supply disruptions, and other effects related to increased
greenhouse gases can have negative impacts on human health. The U.S. Fourth National
Climate Assessment released in 2018 noted, for example, that a changing climate "could
expose more people in North America to ticks that carry Lyme disease and mosquitoes that
transmit viruses such as West Nile, chikungunya, dengue, and Zika."
 Though many living things emit carbon dioxide when they breathe, the gas is widely
considered to be a pollutant when associated with cars, planes, power plants, and other
human activities that involve the burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas. That's
because carbon dioxide is the most common of the greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the
atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Humans have pumped enough carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere over the past 150 years to raise its levels higher than they have been for
hundreds of thousands of years.

 Other greenhouse gases include methane —which comes from such sources as landfills, the
natural gas industry, and gas emitted by livestock—and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which
were used in refrigerants and aerosol propellants until they were banned in the late 1980s
because of their deteriorating effect on Earth's ozone layer.
 To curb global warming, a variety of measures need to be taken, such as adding more
renewable energy and replacing gasoline-fueled cars with zero-emissions vehicles such as
electric ones. On a larger scale, governments at all levels are making commitments to limit
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The Paris Agreement, ratified on
November 4, 2016, is one effort to combat climate change on a global scale. And the Kigali
Amendment seeks to further the progress made by the Montreal Protocol, banning heat-
trapping hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in addition to CFCs.
Glacier ice melting

 Today, about 10% of land area on Earth is covered with glacial ice. Almost 90% is in Antarctica,
while the remaining 10% is in the Greenland ice cap.
 Since the early 1900s, many glaciers around the world have been rapidly melting. Human
activities are at the root of this phenomenon. Specifically, since the industrial revolution,
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions have raised temperatures, even higher in
the poles, and as a result, glaciers are rapidly melting, calving off into the sea and retreating
on land.

Greenhouse effect

 The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. When the Sun’s
energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is
absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases.

 Greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and
some artificial chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

 The absorbed energy warms the atmosphere and the surface of the Earth. This process
maintains the Earth’s temperature at around 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would
otherwise be, allowing life on Earth to exist.

Enhanced greenhouse effect

 The problem we now face is that human activities – particularly burning fossil fuels (coal, oil
and natural gas), agriculture and land clearing – are increasing the concentrations of
greenhouse gases. This is the enhanced greenhouse effect, which is contributing to warming
of the Earth.

Step greenhouse effect

Step 1: Solar radiation reaches the Earth's atmosphere - some of this is reflected back into space.

Step 2: The rest of the sun's energy is absorbed by the land and the oceans, heating the Earth.

Step 3: Heat radiates from Earth towards space.

Step 4: Some of this heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, keeping the Earth warm
enough to sustain life.

Step 5: Human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and land clearing are increasing the
amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

Step 6: This is trapping extra heat, and causing the Earth's temperature to rise.