The Flying Classroom
Food Waste & The Atmosphere
Where does the food go that you throw away?
What is a landfill?
A landfill is a place to dispose of refuse
(garbage) and other waste material by burying it
and covering it over with soil.
The landfill is not the end. . .
Methane gas is produced when food waste begins to breakdown
(decompose) in a landfill. It breaks down through bacterial
processes.
Credit: Will Elder, National Park Service
Then the methane gas is sent into the
atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.
Greenhouse gases are certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) that trap energy from the sun.
Credit: Will Elder, National Park Service
Methane Gas created from landfills is
categorized as Human Enhanced Greenhouse
Effect
www.globalissues.org
The methane gas produced from landfills and food
waste is trapped in the atmosphere and causes our
atmosphere to increase in heat. This leads to global
warming and climate change.
The
Environmental
Protection
Agency has
estimated that
18% of all
methane gas
that is escaping
into the
atmosphere is
produced from
landfills!