GREENHOUSE GASES and the GREENHOUSE EFFECT

A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse) is a building where plants are grown. The glass in a
greenhouse traps the sun's heat and keeps the plants warm. This works by isolating warm air inside
the structure so that heat is not lost by convection. The greenhouse effect is a process by which
thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-
radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface, energy is
transferred to the surface and the lower atmosphere.

GREENHOUSE GASES
 Greenhouse gases are chemical compounds that contribute to the greenhouse effect.
 Without the greenhouse effect the Earth would be uninhabitable.
 In its absence, the mean temperature of the earth would be about −19 °C (−2 °F, 254 K) rather than
the present mean temperature of about 15 °C (59 °F, 288 K).
 In the atmosphere a greenhouse gas allow sunlight (solar radiation) to enter the atmosphere where it
warms the Earth’s surface and is reradiated back into the atmosphere as longer-wave energy (heat).
Greenhouse gases absorb this heat and ‘trap’ it in the lower atmosphere.
 The major atmospheric constituents ( nitrogen, N2 and oxygen, O2) are not greenhouse gases. This
is because homonuclear diatomic molecules such as N2 and O2 neither absorb nor emit infrared
radiation, as there is no net change in the dipole moment of these molecules when they vibrate.
 Late 19th century scientists experimentally discovered that N2 and O2 did not absorb infrared
radiation (called, at that time, "dark radiation") and that CO2 and many other gases did absorb such
radiation.

This diagram shows the relative importance of the major human-produced greenhouse gases to current
warming. CO2 is the most important followed in descending order by methane, CFCs, ozone and
nitrous oxide.

Greenhouse gases (in the order of relative abundance)

water vapor
carbon dioxide
methane
nitrous oxide
ozone
fluorocarbons
 Water vapor
H2O
 naturally occurring greenhouse gas
 accounts for the largest percentage of the greenhouse effect, between 36% and 66%
 its concentrations fluctuate regionally, but human activity does not directly affect water vapor
concentrations except at local scales (for example, near irrigated fields)

Carbon Dioxide
CO2
 a colorless, odorless non-flammable gas
 recycled through the atmosphere by the process photosynthesis
 emitted into the air as humans exhale, burn fossil fuels for energy, and deforest the planet
 fossil fuels which contain carbon, and when they are burned, they combine with oxygen, forming
carbon dioxide

Methane
CH4
 a colorless, odorless, flammable gas
 formed when plants decay and where there is very little air
 often called swamp gas because it is abundant around water and swamps
 bacteria that breakdown organic matter in wetlands and bacteria that are found in cows, sheep,
goats, buffalo, termites, and camels produce methane naturally
 bacteria in the gut of the animal break down food and convert some of it to methane
 it stays in the atmosphere for only 10 years, (compared to about 100 years for a molecule of carbon
dioxide) , but traps 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide

Bessy the Science Cow

Bessy and her cow friends are one of the world's greatest methane emitters. Bessy’s grassy diet and
multiple stomachs cause her to produce methane, which she exhales with every breath. In one day,
a cow can emit ½ pound of methane into the air. Imagine 1.3 billion cattle each burping methane
several times per minute!
 Nitrous oxide
N2O
 colorless greenhouse gas, however, it has a sweet odor
 primarily used as an anesthetic because it deadens pain and for this characteristic is called laughing
gas
 each year we add 7-13 million tons into the atmosphere by using nitrogen based fertilizers, disposing
of human and animal waste in sewage treatment plants, automobile exhaust, and other sources not
yet identified
 nitrous oxide released today will still be trapped in the atmosphere 100 years from now
 nitrogen-based fertilizers provide nutrients for crops; however, when they breakdown in the soil,
nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere.
 in automobiles, nitrous oxide is released at a much lower rate than carbon dioxide, because there is
more carbon in gasoline than nitrogen.

Ozone or trioxygen
O3
 is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms
 an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope (O 2).
 ozone in the lower atmosphere is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems of
animals and will burn sensitive plants; however, the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere is
beneficial, preventing potentially damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth's surface
 present in low concentrations
 quantifying the greenhouse gas potency of ozone is difficult because it is not present in uniform
concentrations across the globe

Fluorocarbons
 a general term for any group of synthetic organic compounds that contain fluorine and carbon. many
of these can be easily converted from gas to liquid or liquid to gas
 can be used in aerosol cans, refrigerators, and air conditioners,
 studies in the 1970 s showed that when CFC s are emitted into the atmosphere, they break down
molecules in the Earth's ozone layer, since then, the use of CFC s has significantly decreased
 hydrofluorocarbons (HFC's), the substitute for CFC s do not harm or breakdown the ozone molecule,
but they do trap heat in the atmosphere, making it a greenhouse gas
 HFC s are used in air conditioners and refrigerators. The way to reduce emissions of this gas is to
be sure that in both devices the coolant is recycled and all leaks are properly fixed . Also, before
throwing the appliances away, be sure to recover the coolant in each.
 GREENHOUSE EFFECT

 About 30 percent of the sunlight that beams toward Earth is deflected by the outer atmosphere and
scattered back into space. The rest reaches the planet's surface and is reflected upward again as a
type of slow-moving energy called infrared radiation.The heat caused by infrared radiation is
absorbed by "greenhouse gases" such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone and methane, which
slows its escape from the atmosphere.
 Although greenhouse gases make up only about 1 percent of the Earth's atmosphere, they regulate
our climate by trapping heat and holding it in a kind of warm-air blanket that surrounds the
planet.This phenomenon is what scientists call the "greenhouse effect."
 The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824, first reliably experimented on by
John Tyndall in 1858, and first reported quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.

1. Sunlight brings energy into the climate system; most of it is absorbed by

the oceans and land.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT:

2. Heat (infrared energy) radiates outward from the warmed surface of the
Earth.
3. Some of the infrared energy is absorbed by greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, which re-emit the energy in all directions.
4. Some of the infrared energy further warms the Earth.
5. Some of the infrared energy is emitted into space.

AMPLIFIED GREENHOUSE EFFECT:

6. Higher concentrations of CO2 and other "greenhouse" gases trap more
infrared energy in the atmosphere than occurs naturally. The
additional heat further warms the atmosphere and Earth’s surface.