March 10, 2017 (Friday)
Yesterday: “White House.” Today: “Greenhouse.” The White House (yesterday’s blog) is white. A greenhouse is not usually green. Greenhouses were called such because once they were the only green spots in a white winter in Europe. A greenhouse is useful in producing plants, which at some stage of their growth, are green.
Greenhouses are simple in their basic design. With transparent ceilings, and perhaps 
transparent walls also, they allow the sun’s rays to get inside, heating the interior. Objects within the greenhouse then emit infrared rays, which cannot pass through the glass, etc., and emit heat. This heat is trapped inside the greenhouse, thereby changing the climate within it. Through the use of additional methods, regulation of the flow of air, temperatures, and humidity is accomplished, providing just the right atmosphere for a designated crop.
Were it not for the “greenhouse effect” on earth, everything here would freeze. The sun’s rays warm the earth and the atmosphere keeps the warmth from escaping into space. However, when this delicate balance is upset, the earth’s atmosphere can become too warm (“The Greenhouse Effect”). Something that is very good and necessary for life on earth to exist can get out of balance and earth’s climate can change. Many people believe that earth’s climate is changing because of the burning of fossil fuels, which produces too much carbon dioxide, and traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere.
In the meantime, there are greenhouses everywhere, intentionally affecting climate within small, designated areas for the purpose of growing plants. We can buy one at stores in almost every community in America. Or we can build our own.
Meanwhile, in places like the Netherlands, greenhouses are big business, with some of them occupying thousands of acres. Eighty percent of all crops grown in this way in the Netherlands are exported throughout the world. It’s big business there. Greenhouses are useful in most countries, where modern scientific and technological advancements have improved production and quality of needed crops.
Entire volumes about greenhouses fill libraries throughout the world, so I’m not even pretending to believe I have covered the subject. It is a fascinating one indeed.
I had a friend in West Terrace who noticed his clothes dryer was blowing into his garden next to the house, so he spread some plastic to trap the heat and save his plants during a freeze. An appraiser for the county came by, looked at it, and raised his taxes because what he had created was considered to be a “greenhouse.” My friend was somewhat unhappy about that. Actually he was very unhappy about that.
“Going green” these days can be a political statement. It wasn’t always so.