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The rapid development of renewable energy sources will help us meet energy demands without creating much pollution.Here is the sentence, does 'without creating much pollution' modify 'will help' or 'meet' or others?Greenhouse gases are being trapped within the earth's atmosphere, which has led to rising temperatures.Which one does ',which' refers to here in the sentence, 'Greenhouse gases are being trapped within the earth's atmosphere' or 'being trapped within the earth's atmosphere' or others?What do you native English speakers think? Thank you so much as usual in advance.

BillJ · Accepted Answer

The rapid development of renewable energy sources will help us meet energy demands without creating much pollution.

The underlined element is an adjunct in clause structure, where I'd say that it is modifying "meet energy demands". I'm not certain what semantic category of adjunct it is, though perhaps a peripheral case of result.

Greenhouse gases are being trapped within the earth's atmosphere, which has led to rising temperatures.

Here, "which" has the entire main clause as antecedent. We understand that the trapping of greenhouse gases within the earth's atmosphere has led to rising temperatures.

Note, though, that the underlined element is a non-defining relative clause, so it is not a modifier but a supplement, a non-integrated element.

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