ABSTRACT
The Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations, as well as those of Ur and Elam which preceded them, were dependent on irrigation and therefore on an assured water supply. The huge production of carbon dioxide (CO2), which can no longer be recycled by the earths physical system. Oceans and plants absorb about 60 per cent of the CO2 emitted as a consequence of human activities. The oceans do so because CO2 is soluble in water. Plants absorb it because of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide and most other greenhouse gases (GHGs) have always been present in the atmosphere. In quantities acceptable to nature they have been keeping the earth hospitable for life by trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space. Essentially this is what is called the greenhouse effect. The holes man has created in the earths protective ozone layer are one of the most flagrant examples of how ongoing policies of environmental destruction cause major deterioration in the environment.
