The great concern that this class of compounds brings to the environment is in relation to the oxide called carbon dioxide (CO2). It has gradually increased in our atmosphere, due to the intense use of fuels that are derived from petroleum, natural gas, etc.
There is a solution to this problem: the photosynthesis that plants carry out by which carbon dioxide (CO2) can be removed from the atmosphere. Forest vegetation and marine algae play an important role in this process.
But unfortunately, man himself is the main destroyer of the green portion of the planet, which causes CO removal2 decrease. And there is still another aggravating factor: the fires. When preparing land for pastures and crops, most of the trees are burned, producing even more CO2. Studies prove that fires are responsible for 15 to 30% of the annual increase in CO2 In the atmosphere.
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This problem leads to another: the Greenhouse effect, which is caused by the planet's warming due to the amount of CO
2 atmospheric. It all starts when the Earth receives solar energy, part of this energy is absorbed by the surface Terrestrial, while another part is reflected in the form of infrared radiation, which in turn is absorbed by CO2 and other atmospheric constituents such as water vapor, methane (CH4), chlorofluorocarbons.It turns out that a part of this radiation is diverted to the Earth, consequently there is an increase in the temperature of the Earth's surface leading to the Greenhouse effect. This name is appropriate as the CO2 and other pollutants act in the same way as the glass roof of a greenhouse (which in this case is planet Earth).
By Líria Alves
Graduated in Chemistry
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUZA, Líria Alves de. "Oxides and the Environment"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/quimica/oxidos-meio-ambiente.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
