The most common greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone, nitrous oxide, and methane. To understand what a greenhouse gas is one must understand the concept of the “greenhouse effect.” The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature of the Earth because these gases are in the atmosphere. When sunlight enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it passes through the layers of gases because it has such a short wavelength. The Earth absorbs the solar energy and releases it back into the atmosphere as infared radiation. A small portion of the radiation is released into space, but because of the long wavelength, the majority cannot escape. The remaining infared radiation is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere that re-emit the energy back toward the Earth’s surface in the form of heat. This effect is natural and necessary to keep the Earth warm enough to sustain life, but with increasing greenhouse gas emissions, the Earth is heating up drastically.
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8 comments:
Sarah, I think that it is great how you start out by explaining a main part of global warming, the greenhouse effect, something many people are unaware of. Great Job!
One of your articles talks about the IPCC and I was wondering what exactly they do and if they are in charge of keeping greenhouse gases under control.
Sarah, are the outermost layers of the atmosphere affected by these gases too?
This is a great introduction to your topic and you explained things very well. Your first year physics teacher would be so proud. Hoewever, I am concerned that you didn't cite any resources for your information. Please do so in the future.
Interesting question Lauren, the IPCC stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The main objective of it is to assess scientific, technical, and socio-economic information relative to global warming and human induced climate change. The IPCC is not in charge of keeping greenhouse gases under control. Their job is to assess information and then provide it to policymakers who then make decisions. Hope that helps!
Greenhouse gases are most affecting the troposphere and stratosphere, the layers of atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface. The ozone depletion is occurring in the stratosphere, so everything underneath it is being greatly affected.
Previously I didn't really understand the greenhouse effect, but you did a great job describing it!
Good job so far! I knew that other gases effected global warming but I never really knew to what extent. I'm excited to read more about these other gases besides carbon!
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