Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 6 views

    Green House Effect

    Uploaded by

    Bilal Anwar
    General Science

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Green House Effect

    Uploaded by

    Bilal Anwar
    6 views5 pages
    General Science

    Original Title

    Green House effect

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    General Science

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    6 views5 pages

    Green House Effect

    Uploaded by

    Bilal Anwar
    General Science

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 5

    Green House Effect

    The heating of earth due to trapping of reflected longer wavelength radiation by carbon dioxide,
    methane and other amtospheric gases is called greenhouse effect. It also called blanketing effect.
    Green house effect maintains the temperature of eatrh during night time. Without GHE, earth could
    become a cold planet where life could not be possible. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the
    heat emitted by the Earth would simply pass outwards from the Earth's surface into space and the
    Earth would have an average temperature of about -18°C.

    In 1859, the Irish physicist John Tyndall discovered the earth’s warming effect after three years
    of Foote’s.

    Apart from the Earth, there are other planets in the solar system that also have greenhouse effect.
    The greenhouse effect on Venus is particularly large, which brings its surface temperature to as
    high as 462 °C (864 °F). This is due to several reasons:

    1. It is nearer to the Sun than Earth by about 30%.


    2. Its very dense atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, approximately 97%.

    Green House Gases

    A greenhouse gas (GHGs) is a gas capable of trapping solar radiation energy within a planet's
    atmosphere. Greenhouse gases contribute most of the greenhouse effect in Earth's energy budget.
    Greenhouse gases can be divided into two types:

    Dr. Waheed Mushtaq


    Direct GHG: Gases that can directly absorb solar energy are direct greenhouse gases, e.g., water
    vapor, carbon dioxide and ozone. The molecules of these gases can directly absorb solar radiation
    at certain ranges of wavelength.

    Indirect GHG: These gases do not absorb solar energy directly or significantly, but have
    capability of producing other greenhouse gases. For example, methane plays an important role in
    producing tropospheric ozone and formation of more carbon dioxide. NOx and CO can also
    produce tropospheric ozone and carbon dioxide through photochemical processes.

    Following is the contribution of GHGs.

    i. Carbon dioxide (53%)


    ii. Methane (16%)
    iii. Tropospheric Ozone (10%)
    iv. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons
    (HFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and other refrigerating agents (14%)
    v. Nitrous oxide (6%)
    vi. Water vapors (1%)

    Dr. Waheed Mushtaq


    Anti-greenhouse effect

    Greenhouse effect occurs because the atmosphere is transparent to solar radiation but largely
    opaque to infrared (IR) and far infrared emitted by the planet. However, in Anti-greenhouse
    effect, the atmosphere is opaque to solar radiation but lets out infrared (IR). Due to this effect,
    the body is cooler than the actual temperature would have been. In anti-greenhouse effect, lets
    heat out but does not let heat in. Such an effect has been proposed for Saturn's moon Titan.

    Importance of Greenhouse Effect

     Helps in retaining the temperature of earth to an optimum value


     Growth of plants

    Global warming

    “Global warming is a gradual increase in the earth’s surface temperature due to the greenhouse
    effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants”. Global warming
    is responsible for climate change. After industrial revolution, the temperature of earth has been
    increased as 15 C + 1.84 ≈ 16.84°C.

    Carbon dioxide profile

    Year Concentration in Air (ppm)

    1650 148

    1850 246

    1980 342

    2021 418

    2050 600

    Dr. Waheed Mushtaq


    Global Warming Potential (GWP)

    The global warming potential (GWP) of a greenhouse gas is calculated by quantifying


    the lifetime and the efficiency of greenhouse effect of the gas. Typically, nitrous oxide has a
    lifetime of about 121 years, and over 270 times higher GWP than carbon dioxide for 20-year time
    span. Sulfur hexafluoride has a lifetime of over 3000 years and 25000 times higher GWP than
    carbon dioxide.

    Effects of Global warming

     Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice
    sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. In Montana's Glacier
    National Park the number of glaciers has declined to fewer than 30 from more than 150 in 1910.
     Much of this melting ice contributes to sea-level rise. Global sea levels are rising 0.13 inches
    (3.2 millimeters) a year. The rise is occurring at a faster rate in recent years and is predicted to
    accelerate in the coming decades.
     Rising temperatures are affecting wildlife and their habitats. Vanishing ice has challenged
    species such as the Adélie penguin in Antarctica, where some populations on the western
    peninsula have collapsed by 90 percent or more.
     As temperatures change, many species are on the move. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine
    plants have migrated farther north or to higher, cooler areas.
     Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Yet some regions
    are experiencing more severe drought, increasing the risk of wildfires, lost crops, and drinking
    water shortages.
     Some species—including mosquitoes, ticks, jellyfish, and crop pests—are thriving. Booming
    populations of bark beetles that feed on spruce and pine trees, for example, have
    devastated millions of forested acres in the U.S.

    Control of Global warming

     Carbon sequestration: “Blue carbon” is the carbon that is stored naturally by marine and
    coastal ecosystems, hence the name. Three types of coastal ecosystems — mangroves,
    seagrasses and tidal marshes — store half the “blue” carbon buried beneath the ocean floor.
     Geological trapping of CO2

    Dr. Waheed Mushtaq


    Green carbon: Commonly refers to carbon that is contained in living vegetation and soil in
    forest ecosystems of the terrestrial realm (Mackey et al., 2008). Blue carbon: Carbon stored in
    coastal and marine ecosystems, such as mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows.

    Dr. Waheed Mushtaq

    You might also like