2. Environmental impacts and sources

2.1 Environmental impact

In 1895, Swedish scientist Arrhénius analyzed the mechanism of the greenhouse effect. This, caused mainly by the presence in the atmosphere of gases such as carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), water vapor (H ₂ O), methane (CH ₄ ) and nitrous oxide (N ₂ O), is essential to life. These gases capture and hold the energy reflected by solar radiation. Without this natural greenhouse effect, the average temperature on earth would not be 15°C but – 6°C [1] .

The warming potential of these gases (radioactive forcing)...