We all know the arctic. We always think of it as a cold, barren wasteland with minimal sunlight. But that is not what it is. The arctic is a majestic place holding many creatures such as polar bears, penguins, seals, and foxes. All those animals are wonderful but they are dying due to global warming. You may be wondering how the ice melts if there is minimal sunlight? It’s called global warming, which is mainly caused by greenhouse gases. 

What Are Greenhouse Gases?

A greenhouse gas is a special type of gas that traps the sun’s heat and keeps it from leaving Earth’s atmosphere. This process causes the Earth to warm up. But if there are too many gases (which there are now), it starts clogging up the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to the greenhouse effect, which causes the Earth to increase in temperature at a rapid rate. You may be wondering how these harmful gases have come to be. It’s our fault. According to The Global Emissions scientists, about 76% of greenhouse gases are from big factories and corporations that produce products rapidly. If factories are producing rapidly, greenhouse gas levels are increasing rapidly as well, which only gives the greenhouse effect a worse reputation than it already has.

Effects of Greenhouse Gases

Because of the greenhouse gases, the temperature of the Earth is rising. The greenhouse effect became a problem in the 1970’s and since then the average Earth temperature has increased greatly. Two locations that have been hit hard by the greenhouse effect are the Arctic and Antarctic. Heat melts ice, but if the ice in the Antarctic or the Arctic melts, it could be dangerous.  Because when ice is melted it turns into water, if all ice on Earth were to melt, the sea level would rise dramatically.  Here is a diagram to show the effects. Pictured on the top is the current Earth, and pictured below is the Earth if every last bit of ice on the planet melted.  While the Earth still needs greenhouse gases for it to not become a pure wasteland, due to excessive amounts of factories and other causes, the levels are too high.

What YOU Can Do To Lower the Amounts of Greenhouse Gases

You may be wondering how you could help lower the amounts of greenhouse gases that we are producing. There are a few ways.

1. Reduce your carbon footprint by using a non-gas transportation vehicle such as a bike or an electric car.
2. Shop greener by buying foods that don’t have to be processed before consuming, such as vegetables and fruits.
3. Power your home with renewable energy such as solar panels on the top of your house to provide electricity.
4. Speak up! Go on Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and other social media apps to make others aware so that you can possibly say something to the government like Greta Thunberg did.