Green House Effect

            Scientists have recently reported that the polar ice caps melting. This is due to a rise in atmospheric temperatures known as the ‘Green house effect’. According to Melvin Calvin, who won a Noble Prize for earlier research, the carbon dioxide is primarily responsible for temperature rise in atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is given off when coal and oil are burnt. This gas is accumulating in the atmosphere and causing temperature to rise. As a result, the ice covering the north and south poles is melting and may eventually lead to rise in sea levels which could flood many areas of the world. Even if we take measures to stop the melting, it may take years to control the rise in sea levels. The ‘Green house effect’ is just one of many fundamental changes which are taking place in the environment. Tropical rain forests, which took fifty million years to grow, are being reduced at the rate of fourteen acres per minute. The total area of world’s deserts is increasing every year. Many species of animals and plants are endangered with the threat of extinction. In presenting the results of “Global 2000” Edmu Muskie says that world population growth, the degradation of the earth’s natural resources base and the spread of the environmental pollution collectively threaten the existence of the inhabitants of the world. If the people of the world do not act quickly and decisively to protect the environment, this world will soon become uninhabitable.