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Greenhouse Effect: From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The greenhouse effect refers to the process by which gases in the atmosphere trap heat radiating from the Earth's surface, causing the surface temperature to be warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. Key greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane absorb and radiate heat in all directions, warming both the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be about 33°C colder than it is now, making life as we know it impossible. Human activities like burning fossil fuels have intensified the natural greenhouse effect and caused global warming.

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33 views

Greenhouse Effect: From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The greenhouse effect refers to the process by which gases in the atmosphere trap heat radiating from the Earth's surface, causing the surface temperature to be warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. Key greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane absorb and radiate heat in all directions, warming both the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the Earth's average temperature would be about 33°C colder than it is now, making life as we know it impossible. Human activities like burning fossil fuels have intensified the natural greenhouse effect and caused global warming.

Uploaded by

Biswajit Mohanty
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1/27/2017

GreenhouseeffectWikipedia

Greenhouseeffect
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Thegreenhouseeffectistheprocessbywhichradiationfromaplanet's
atmospherewarmstheplanet'ssurfacetoatemperatureabovewhatit
wouldbewithoutitsatmosphere.[1][2]
Ifaplanet'satmospherecontainsradiativelyactivegases(i.e.,greenhouse
gases)theatmospherewillradiateenergyinalldirections.Partofthis
radiationisdirectedtowardsthesurface,warmingit.Thedownward
componentofthisradiationthatis,thestrengthofthegreenhouseeffect
willdependontheatmosphere'stemperatureandontheamountof
greenhousegasesthattheatmospherecontains.
OnEarth,theatmosphereiswarmedbyabsorptionofinfraredthermal
radiationfromtheunderlyingsurface(heatedbythesun),absorptionof
shorterwavelengthradiantenergyfromthesun,andconvectiveheatfluxes
fromthesurface.Greenhousegasesintheatmosphereradiateenergy,some
ofwhichisdirectedtothesurfaceandloweratmosphere.Themechanism
thatproducesthisdifferencebetweentheactualsurfacetemperatureandthe
effectivetemperatureisduetotheatmosphereandisknownasthe
greenhouseeffect.[3]

Arepresentationoftheexchangesof
energybetweenthesource(theSun),
Earth'ssurface,theEarth's
atmosphere,andtheultimatesink
outerspace.Theabilityofthe
atmospheretocaptureandrecycle
energyemittedbyEarth'ssurfaceis
thedefiningcharacteristicofthe
greenhouseeffect.

Earthsnaturalgreenhouseeffectiscriticaltosupportinglife.Human
activities,primarilytheburningoffossilfuelsandclearingofforests,have
intensifiedthenaturalgreenhouseeffect,causingglobalwarming.[4]
Themechanismisnamedafterafaultyanalogywiththeeffectofsolar
radiationpassingthroughglassandwarmingagreenhouse.Thewaya
greenhouseretainsheatisfundamentallydifferent,asagreenhouseworks
byreducingairflowandretainingwarmairinsidethestructure.[2][5][6]

Contents

Anotherdiagramofthegreenhouse
effect

1 History
2 Mechanism
3 Greenhousegases
4 Roleinclimatechange
5 Realgreenhouses
6 BodiesotherthanEarth
7 Seealso
8 References
9 Furtherreading
10 Externallinks

History
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GreenhouseeffectWikipedia

TheexistenceofthegreenhouseeffectwasarguedforbyJosephFourierin1824.Theargumentandtheevidence
werefurtherstrengthenedbyClaudePouilletin1827and1838andreasonedfromexperimentalobservationsby
JohnTyndallin1859.[7]TheeffectwasmorefullyquantifiedbySvanteArrheniusin1896.[8]However,theterm
"greenhouse"wasnotusedtorefertothiseffectbyanyofthesescientiststhetermwasfirstusedinthiswayby
NilsGustafEkholmin1901.[9][10]
In1917AlexanderGrahamBellwrote"[Theuncheckedburningoffossilfuels]wouldhaveasortofgreenhouse
effect",and"Thenetresultisthegreenhousebecomesasortofhothouse."[11][12]Bellwentontoalsoadvocatethe
useofalternateenergysources,suchassolarenergy.[13]

Mechanism
EarthreceivesenergyfromtheSunintheformofultraviolet,visible,andnearinfraredradiation.Ofthetotal
amountofsolarenergyavailableatthetopoftheatmosphere,about26%isreflectedtospacebytheatmosphere
andcloudsand19%isabsorbedbytheatmosphereandclouds.Mostoftheremainingenergyisabsorbedatthe
surfaceofEarth.BecausetheEarth'ssurfaceiscolderthanthephotosphereoftheSun,itradiatesatwavelengths
thataremuchlongerthanthewavelengthsthatwereabsorbed.Mostofthisthermalradiationisabsorbedbythe
atmosphere,therebywarmingit.Inadditiontotheabsorptionofsolarandthermalradiation,theatmospherefurther
gainsheatbysensibleandlatentheatfluxesfromthesurface.Theatmosphereradiatesenergybothupwardsand
downwardsthepartradiateddownwardsisabsorbedbythesurfaceofEarth.Thisleadstoahigherequilibrium
temperaturethaniftheatmospherewereabsent.
AnidealthermallyconductiveblackbodyatthesamedistancefromtheSun
asEarthwouldhaveatemperatureofabout5.3C.However,because
Earthreflectsabout30%[14][15]oftheincomingsunlight,thisidealized
planet'seffectivetemperature(thetemperatureofablackbodythatwould
emitthesameamountofradiation)wouldbeabout18C.[16][17]The
surfacetemperatureofthishypotheticalplanetis33CbelowEarth'sactual
surfacetemperatureofapproximately14C.[18]
Thebasicmechanismcanbequalifiedinanumberofways,noneofwhich
affectthefundamentalprocess.Theatmospherenearthesurfaceislargely
Thesolarradiationspectrumfor
opaquetothermalradiation(withimportantexceptionsfor"window"
directlightatboththetopofEarth's
bands),andmostheatlossfromthesurfaceisbysensibleheatandlatent
atmosphereandatsealevel
heattransport.Radiativeenergylossesbecomeincreasinglyimportant
higherintheatmosphere,largelybecauseofthedecreasingconcentration
ofwatervapor,animportantgreenhousegas.Itismorerealistictothinkofthegreenhouseeffectasapplyingtoa
"surface"inthemidtroposphere,whichiseffectivelycoupledtothesurfacebyalapserate.Thesimplepicture
alsoassumesasteadystate,butintherealworld,therearevariationsduetothediurnalcycleaswellasthe
seasonalcycleandweatherdisturbances.Solarheatingonlyappliesduringdaytime.Duringthenight,the
atmospherecoolssomewhat,butnotgreatly,becauseitsemissivityislow.Diurnaltemperaturechangesdecrease
withheightintheatmosphere.
Withintheregionwhereradiativeeffectsareimportant,thedescriptiongivenbytheidealizedgreenhousemodel
becomesrealistic.Earth'ssurface,warmedtoatemperaturearound255K,radiateslongwavelength,infraredheat
intherangeof4100m.[19]Atthesewavelengths,greenhousegasesthatwerelargelytransparenttoincoming
solarradiationaremoreabsorbent.[19]Eachlayerofatmospherewithgreenhousesgasesabsorbssomeoftheheat
beingradiatedupwardsfromlowerlayers.Itreradiatesinalldirections,bothupwardsanddownwardsin
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