Greenhouse gases and global warming have a very negative effect on the environment.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change due to
greenhouse gases is responsible for numerous changes to the environment. Over the last 50
years, heat waves have become more frequent and the risk of them occurring in the future has
more than doubled due to greenhouse gases (Stott, Stone, and Allen). Also, precipitation has
increased globally despite a concurrent increase in droughts. The reason for these seemingly
opposite effects of greenhouse gases is that the trapped heat in the atmosphere creates more
evaporation of water from the surface This leads to more rainfall, but also creates drought in the
areas where it does not rain, as the ground has been dried out (IPCC). The heat increase is also
affecting polar ice. According to the IPCC the ice that covers the Arctic Ocean has been
retreating further than ever measured. The extent of Arctic ice in September 2006 was only about
8085% of what it was in the 1980s and 1990s. The melting ice causes the water level of the
ocean to rise higher than it otherwise would.
Another way in which the environment is affected by greenhouse gases is through
depletion of the ozone layer. Ozone is a compound that consists of three oxygen molecules
bonded together. Roughly six to ten miles above the earths surface there is a relatively high
concentration of ozone that is referred to as the ozone layer (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration). The ozone layer absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays, but recently its been
absorbing less than before and letting much more radiation through to the earths surface. Above
the artic region, much more that 60% of the total ozone in the ozone layer is depleted during the
spring months and although it replenishes slightly throughout the year, this 60% depletion level
is constant annually. Throughout the world ozone is depleted at levels that are slightly lower, but
still significant, above places of major human population (National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration). The main cause of this depletion is the presence of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. Ozone depletion occurs most in the extreme cold. According to NASA, while the
buildup of greenhouse gases leads to global warming at Earth's surface, it also cools the
stratosphere, which increases the amount of ozone depletion (Shindell). In addition, certain
greenhouse gases that contain chlorine, fluorine, and carbon, called chlorofluorocarbons, have an
extremely deleterious effect on the ozone layer. The chemicals rise through the air up into the
stratosphere where they are converted to more reactive gases [that] participate in catalytic
reaction cycles that efficiently destroy ozone in the stratosphere (Aucamp and Bjrn 5).
This ozone depletion caused by greenhouse gases allows a significant amount of
ultraviolet radiation to reach the surface of the earth. These ultraviolet rays are responsible for a
lot of damage to the environment. The ultraviolet rays that penetrate the earths atmosphere are
damaging to plants. In order to prevent damage to their DNA by ultraviolet rays, plants have
certain natural mechanisms they undergo to provide their leaves with a waxy coating. However,
this coating makes the plants biodegrade much more slowly. This is important because the
broken down plants act as fertilizer for new, growing plants and if they are unable to biodegrade
as quickly, plant growth suffers overall (Aucamp and Bjrn 29). In addition to terrestrial
ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems also face consequences due to an increase in ultraviolet rays.
Although the rays do not penetrate very deeply into ocean water, they will damage those
organisms that live at the surface of the water during their early life stages (Aucamp and Bjrn
33). This means that when fish and other inhabitants of bodies of water are born and they are in
their most vulnerable state, they are affected deeply by the UVB rays that pierce through the
depleted ozone layer. As well as fish, the phytoplankton that inhabit the surface of the water are
profoundly affected. The role of the phytoplankton is to create energy by absorbing sunlight.

This energy then passes through the food chain as they are consumed. However, the UVB rays
that are now reaching the surface of the earths many bodies of water have been shown to have
negative effects on phytoplankton (Aucamp and Bjrn 33). Because they are energy creators for
the entire food chain, their lack of production that is caused by harmful UV radiation is
extremely wounding to aquatic ecosystems.

Works Cited
Aucamp, Pieter J., and Lars Olof Bjrn. Questions and Answers about the Environmental Effects
of the Ozone Layer Depletion and Climate Change: 2010 Update. N.p.: United Nations
Environmental Programme, 2010. Print.
"Science: Ozone Basics." Noaa.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, n.d.
Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Shindell, Drew. "Are Increasing Greenhouse Gases Creating an Arctic Ozone Hole?" NASA
Goddard Institute for Space Studies. NASA, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Stott, Peter A., D. A. Stone, and M. R. Allen. "Human Contribution to the European Heatwave of
2003." Nature 432.7017 (2004): 610-14. Print.