Greenhouse effect is the process where heat is trapped by greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere to keep the Earth warm. The planet’s atmosphere contains these radiatively active gases, that radiate energy in all direction. Greenhouse gases are already present in the atmosphere; without them the Earth would be significantly cold enough to freeze the oceans. To understand how important and harmful the greenhouse gases can be for the planet, we need to answer these questions. Do extra greenhouse gases upset the Earth’s natural balance and make it even warmer? Is there any extra insertion of the gases in the atmosphere by humans? If so, how significant are the effects? This essay will discuss in detail, the mechanism that …show more content…
How is radiative equilibrium achieved? The global surface temperature averaged over daily and seasonal series, remains constant. Earth surface receives 340 watts/m2 of radiant energy, if the global surface temperature averaged daily remains constant, therefore Earth’s surface must be radiating out energy precisely 340 watts/m2 into space to keep the surface cool.
There are many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the two most abundant are water vapour and carbon dioxide. Visible light (short wave radiation) passes through the green house gases to reach the Earth’s surface, The Earth surface absorbs short wave radiation, the radiation is then released by the surface in the form of infrared radiation. Only 10% of the infrared radiation released passes through the gases and the atmosphere and escapes. The rest of the infrared radiation is trapped by the greenhouse gases and clouds.
What really causes the greenhouse effect? The remaining infrared radiation is trapped by the green house gases. The greenhouse gases in turn reradiates the infrared radiation in all direction. Some of the radiation go into the outer space and some go back to the Earth surface. The continuous cycle of exchange of infrared radiation between the Earth’s surface and the greenhouse gases is called the greenhouse effect.
The presence of an atmosphere containing greenhouse gases keeps the Earth surface warm, without an atmosphere like
your answer. The greenhouse effect allows the sun’s radiation to get to Earth and absorbs
The greenhouse effect is how the Earth naturally warms up. During the greenhouse effect, the sun radiates it heat into our atmosphere. From there, most of the heat gets trapped in the Earth’s surface, which is later released back into our atmosphere. At the lower atmosphere, water vapor and carbon dioxide are the gases that absorb most
When the atmosphere is warmed it emits IR radiation, with a portion of the energy acting to warm the surface and the Earth?s atmosphere. As a result the average surface temperature of the Earth is higher than it would normally be without the atmospheric absorption and re-radiation of IR energy. This is known as the ?Greenhouse effect?. The predictions of the future of these greenhouse gasses being in our atmosphere is based on how much we put into the atmosphere and how much is consumed. One thing is for certain, there are still large controversies on how much of these gasses that are let into the atmosphere are by natural or man made processes. (2-453-454)
Green house gases are gases that cause Earth’s atmosphere to increasingly get warmer as human activity continues to increase due to our reliance on living an industrial lifestyle (National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society n.d). With human contribution, such as the constant burning of fossil fuels our society needs to survive, forces our atmosphere to absorb additional gases and heat creating a warmer climate (National Academy of
The Earth absorbs solar energy and most of this energy is later released as heat, or IR radiation.
Many chemical compounds present in Earth's atmosphere behave as 'greenhouse gases'. These are gases which allow direct sunlight (relative shortwave energy) to reach the Earth's surface unimpeded. As the shortwave energy (that in the visible and ultraviolet portion of the spectra) heats the surface, longer-wave (infrared) energy (heat) is reradiated to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases absorb this energy, thereby allowing less heat to escape back to space, and 'trapping' it in the lower atmosphere. Many greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and nitrous oxide, while others are synthetic. Those that are man-made include the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and Perfluorocarbons
Energy from the sun heats the earth surface and atmosphere. Short wave solar radiation is the energy that comes from the sun. When this radiation passes through the atmosphere and strikes an object three things happen. First, some of the energy is absorbed. Second, some simply transmit this energy. Third, some bounce off the object without being absorbed. The greenhouse effect is the transmission of these short wave solar radiation and longer wavelength radiation, known as (terrestrial radiation) which are absorbed through water vapors and carbon dioxide. This type of greenhouse effect happens
Greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, absorb energy radiated by the Earth and then send it back into our atmosphere as heat. This is called the greenhouse effect. During the last
One of the main reasons that earth’s temperatures are rising are due to greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are created when humans burn fossil fuels such as coals, natural gases, and oils to produce heat or electricity. These gases are then capable of trapping infrared radiation sent by the sun. Once these
Alteration of this natural barrier of atmospheric gases can raise or lower the mean global temperature of the Earth”(Greenhouse Gas).
Energy from the sun drives the earth’’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’’s surface; in turn, the earth radiates energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap some of the
All objects in the universe emit light energy in the form of radiation, or light. The light still exists even though we can’t see all wavelengths because our human eyes evolved to be attuned to only certain types of light. Specifically, the kind of light we can see is only emitted by incredibly hot objects such as the sun, which emits light with a very small wavelength. Comparatively, something relatively cool like the Earth or a human body emits a very large wavelength. When the small wavelength light of the sun enters the atmosphere, most of it does not interact with greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) and simply passes through. Once the light hits the Earth, it can either be absorbed or reflected. In the case where it is reflected, its wavelength does not change and it has the same relatively high chance of passing back through the atmosphere as it did coming in. If the light is absorbed, it will eventually be reemitted by the Earth at a comparatively longer wavelength light, which interacts with the atmosphere far more frequently. This results in more of the emitted light becoming “trapped” in Earth’s atmosphere. If there are more greenhouse gases, it essentially increases the degree of the cycle’s effect. Therefore, more of the light being trapped leads to the Earth having more energy, or equivalently, a larger temperature.
Some of the heat from the greenhouse gases goes into space, while some of it burns along the atmosphere, and a small amount of it finds its way into the Earth’s surface (Rinkesh. "Causes of the Greenhouse Effect - Conserve Energy Future."). Because of this the Earth’s temperature is raised (Rinkesh. "Causes of the Greenhouse Effect -
The greenhouse effect is what allows life on Earth and the atmosphere contains trace gases which are designed to retain heat. The gases that are present in the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide. These gases act as a global insulator and help control the Earth’s atmosphere. It all begins with sunlight which is a form of energy that is mostly absorbed by land, oceans, and a portion of the sunlight is reflected back to the atmosphere. Once the earth warms up, it then gives off energy in a different form which is called infrared radiation or electromagnetic radiation. The planet need some of the greenhouse gases because without them the