Greenhouse Effect | Greenhouse Effect |
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What is the greenhouse effect? The greenhouse effect is the process in which the emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere warms a planet's surface. The name comes from an incorrect analogy with the warming of air inside a greenhouse compared to the air outside the greenhouse. The Earth's average surface temperature of 15 °C (59 °F) is about 33 °C (59 °F) warmer than it would be without the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Global warming , a recent warming of the Earth, is believed to be the result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition to the Earth, Mars and Venus have greenhouse effects. Greenhouse effect: warmest summer in ten years, Greenhouse effect:Climate change species threat, Greenhouse effect: Peat bog burning causing climate change, Greenhouse effect: Washington to be sued, Greenhouse effect: G8 disagreements, Tackling Global warming pointless, Schwarzenneger cuts greenhouse gas emissions, Industry chiefs plea for climate change combat
The Greenhouse Effect The theory that human activities have an altering affect on our climate has become widely accepted amongst scientists. The correlation between the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and climate change is indubitable. Anthropogenic emissions to the atmosphere continue to rise despite the disastrous consequences scientists continue to warn us about and despite existing global environmental change. Heat from the sun heats the earth and the oceans in the form of short wave radiation. Unlike the sunlight coming in, the heat that is returned back into the atmosphere is in the form of long wave radiation which is partly absorbed by the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and methane (CH4) absorb long wave radiation in greater quantities than short wave radiation meaning less heat escapes into space. The increased presence of atmospheric greenhouse gases reduces outgoing infrared radiation into space. Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and emit it again in all directions. The ensuing effect is to warm the earth and the lower atmosphere. This net change in radiation levels in the atmosphere is known as radiative forcing and results in inevitable climate change. The surface temperature of the earth is increasingly affected by this perturbation of radiation and increases accordingly. The result of the greenhouse effect is that more trapped heat is reflected back to earth and the temperature rises. The greenhouse effect is a natural process; however the increase in artificial greenhouse gases by human processes since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution has drastically increased the process. Practices such as the burning of fossil fuels, an increase in Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), grassland conversion and deforestation have led to an unnatural increase in Carbon Dioxide levels and an absence of carbon sinks. This has resulted in a subsequent alteration of the earth’s temperatures. by Dorothy-Ellen White Global Sites with interesting information : The Greenhouse Effect and the planets A Greenhouse Effect experiment The Greenhouse Effect is a good thing
Irish Sites with interesting information : ENFO information on the greenhouse effect Skool.ie's view on Greenhouse Effect
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