greenhouse effect

Examples of greenhouse effect in the following topics:

• The Greenhouse Effect

  • The greenhouse effect is an elevation in surface temperatures due to atmospheric gases absorbing and re-radiating thermal energy.
  • Gases known as greenhouse gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane, absorb and trap this heat as it tries to escape from the atmosphere.
  • The cloud layer can also absorb infrared radiation and contribute further to the greenhouse effect.
  • Without this trapping effect, it is estimated that the surface of the Earth would be approximately 30 degrees cooler than current temperatures.
  • The greenhouse effect modulates the temperature at the Earth's surface and makes it hospitable to life.

• Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming

  • Greenhouse gases raise the Earth's equilibrium temperature by absorbing radiation that would otherwise be emitted into space.
  • The 9°C discrepancy is due to the greenhouse effect.
  • Thus the greenhouse effect is a continuous cycle of absorption and emission of energy between the Earth and atmosphere.
  • The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon of radiative transfer, the process by which the energy of light waves is exchanged in matter.
  • Atmospheric reflecters, notably sulfates and nitrates, reflect and scatter light before it ever hits the surface of the Earth, effectively reducing the power that the Earth receives.

• Air Pollution

  • The greenhouse effect: an elevation in the Earth's surface temperature due to the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by atmospheric gases.

• Earth's Atmosphere

  • These minor components are the major contributors to phenomena like weather, the greenhouse effect, and global warming.
  • Carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other greenhouse gases are adept at stopping heat from leaving the atmosphere, causing the Earth to heat up.
  • Some greenhouse gases are beneficial—without them, Earth would be as cold as the moon—but the recent increase in carbon dioxide has upset the precise balance between too cold, too hot, and just right.

• Energy Policy

  • The 2010 United States federal budget proposes to support clean energy development with a 10-year investment of US $15 billion per year, generated from the sale of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credits.
  • In effect, the buyer is paying a charge for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions.
  • The 2010 United States federal budget proposes to support clean energy development with a 10-year investment of US $15 billion per year, generated from the sale of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credits.
  • This diagram shows how the greenhouse effect works.
  • Some of the infrared radiation is absorbed an re-emitted by heat-trapping "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere.

• Causes of Global Climate Change

  • Global climate change is cyclical and happens naturally; however, modern human society's impact has had unprecedented negative effects.
  • Greenhouse gases are probably the most significant drivers of the climate.
  • When heat energy from the sun strikes the earth, gases known as greenhouse gases trap the heat in the atmosphere, similar to how the glass panes of a greenhouse keep heat from escaping.
  • Greenhouse gases, however, reflect much of the thermal energy back to the earth's surface.
  • Greenhouse gases, as they absorb and emit radiation, are an important factor in the greenhouse effect, or the warming of earth due to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

• Environmental Problems Associated with Fossil Fuel Use

  • The ranges of these estimates arise from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations.
  • Other likely effects of global warming include a more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, and heavy rainfall.
  • Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields, as well as the loss of habitat from flooding.
  • Proposed policy responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction, adaptation to its effects, and possible future geoengineering.
  • Parties to the UNFCCC have adopted a range of policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to assist in adaptation to global warming.

• Studying Ecosystem Dynamics

  • A conceptual model describes ecosystem structure and dynamics and shows how environmental disturbances affect the ecosystem, although its ability to predict the effects of these disturbances is limited.
  • An analytical model is created using simple mathematical formulas to predict the effects of environmental disturbances on ecosystem structure and dynamics.
  • A simulation model is created using complex computer algorithms to holistically model ecosystems and to predict the effects of environmental disturbances on ecosystem structure and dynamics.
  • Greenhouses contribute to mesocosm studies because they allow us to control the environment and, thus, the experiment.
  • The mesocosms in this example, tomato plants, have been placed in a greenhouse to control the air, temperature, water, and light distribution in order to observe the effects when exposed to different amounts of each factor.

• Climate Change

  • One of the key problems is that the immediate effects of climate change are likely to be felt by counties with less political and economic clout.
  • One aspect that has been identified as important in slowing down climate change is the reduction in greenhouse gases, also referred to as carbon emissions.
  • This is a market-based system that would see limits, or caps, set on the amount of greenhouse gasses that could be emitted.

• Changing Human Behavior in Response to Biodiversity Loss

  • The Act, and others like it in other countries, is a useful tool, but it suffers because it is often difficult to get a species listed or to get an effective management plan in place once it is listed.
  • In relation to global warming, The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that came out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that committed countries to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2012, was ratified by some countries, but spurned by others.
  • Some goals for reduction in greenhouse gasses were met and exceeded by individual countries, but worldwide, the effort to limit greenhouse gas production is not succeeding.