Introduction CO 2 transmits sunlight efficiently to earth but restricts and traps a portion of the infrared radiation bouncing back into space. If the balance between the CO 2 levels in the ocean and atmosphere is disturbed by interjecting increasing amounts of CO 2 , the oceans would continually absorb higher concentrations than it does naturally. The subsequent warming ocean waters are less effective in their ability to absorb CO 2 and when the oceans can no lonager keep pace with the intrusion of this naturally equalized cycle, then more CO 2 will remain in the atmosphere. “Currently carbon dioxide is responsible for 57 percent of the global warming trend. Nitrogen oxides contribute most of the atmospheric contaminants” (Miller, 1990, p. 498). Increasing the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere through human activity causes a warming of the Earth’s surface accelerating the greenhouse effect. Main body The rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere are becoming increasingly disconcerting. “The concentrations of CO 2 in the air around 1860 before the effects of industrialization were felt, is assumed to have been about 290 parts per million (ppm). In the hundred years and more since then, the concentration has increased by about 30 to 35 ppm that is by 10 percent” (Breuer, 1980, p. 67). The major contributors to CO 2 , one of the main pollutants in the atmosphere, are the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Eighty percent of the world’s population accounts for just 35 percent of CO 2 emissions while the United States and Soviet Union combined are responsible for generating half. Worldwide, “carbon dioxide emissions are increasing by four percent a year” (Miller, 1990, p. 450). Motor vehicles are a major cause of air pollution as is fuel burned for the heating of homes and powering industry and toxins emitted from stacks at coal-burning power plants. “Vehicles produce high levels of carbon monoxides (CO) and a major source of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), whereas, fuel combustion in stationary sources is the dominant source of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 )” (Breuer, 1980, p. 70). Smog, a contraction of the words smoke and fog, is a chemical air pollutant that contributes to the greenhouse effect and is a significant health hazard to those in U.S. cities that contain numerous vehicles and are located in warm, dry climates as it traps in these dangerous chemicals. The effects of air pollution are far-reaching and cannot be escaped by staying inside the home as indoor air pollution can be harmful, caused by such things as poor ventilation, mold and microbe-harboring air conditioning systems and ducts. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that “toxic chemicals found in the air of almost every American home are three times more likely to cause some type of cancer than outdoor air pollutants” (Miller, 1990, p. 488). While the world awaits the inevitable far-reaching effects associated with greenhouse gas emissions, people’s lungs are being poisoned as the plants they depend on for near-term survival are being destroyed. “In the Midwestern United States crop losses of wheat, corn, soybeans, and peanuts from damage by ozone and acid deposition amount to about $5 billion a year” (Miller, 1990, p. 498). Pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides cause immedi