Greenhouse Gases:

Greenhouse gases are a natural part of our environment. Greenhouse gases are found in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation in an infrared range. The process of absorbing and emitting radiation is known as the greenhouse effect. The most common greenhouse gases found in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chloroflourocarbons.

Greenhouse gases are essential in keeping heat within the Earth’s atmosphere, which keeps the Earth at a balanced temperature and allows organisms to survive on our planet. Greenhouse gases are made up mostly of water vapour which helps determine the temperature of the Earth. If there were no greenhouse gases, the Earth would be too cold to inhabit.

The Greenhouse Effect.

Carbon dioxide is the only greenhouse gas that occurs naturally in the environment; however, there are others gases that are emitted in the environment by creation or put into the environment by human activities. Carbon dioxide goes into the environment through fossil fuels and then is removed from the atmosphere by the absorption of plants. Methane (CH4) is emitted into the environment through livestock and organic waste. Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is emitted through agricultural activities. Finally there are fluorinated gases which are emitted through industrial purposes.

Before the Industrial Revolution, there was a balance of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases. After the Revolution too many greenhouse gases were emitted and have been causing environmental problems. The imbalance of greenhouse gases is causing large problems for the Earth’s atmosphere and environment.

Human activities have had a large impact on the levels of greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere, which have caused problems on Earth. In 2007, the IPCC made an assessment about the changes in the atmostphere which stated that the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations have caused increases in global average temperatures in the past century.

The major contributors to the Earth’s greenhouse effect are clouds because they absorb and emit infrared radiation and cause a great effect on the radiation properties of greenhouse gases. The way greenhouse gases are affected depends upon the gas and its abundance.

In the late 19th century it was discovered by scientists that N2 and O2 were not greenhouse gases because they did not absorb infrared radiation. Water vapour is different than these two gases in cloud form because it absorbs infrared radiation. In the 20th century, scientists realized that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused the Earth’s overall temperatures to be higher than if there were no such gases.

Most greenhouse gases that are found in the Earth’s atmosphere have always been a part of the ecosystem and thus called natural gases. Humans have also added to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and they are called anthropogenic. Before the Industrial Revolution, the concentrations of greenhouse gases were generally constant. After the Industrial Revolution, an excess of gases was being sent into the atmosphere because of the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

Proof that greenhouse gas concentrations have gone up in the past thousands of years is seen in the ice cores in the poles. CO2 and CH4 are two gases that vary in glacial phases, and concentrations of these gases are affected by temperature. Records say that 500 million years ago CO2 levels found in ice cores were 10 times higher than what they are now. It is believed that as land plants began to grow, the concentrations of CO2 slowly went down.

Index of how many anthropogenic gases are being sent into the atmosphere by various countries.

In the United States the amount of greenhouse gases emitted has been increasing yearly. China follows the United States as being second in line as a major cause of greenhouse emission. As more countries increase the amount of CO2 concentrations they send into the atmosphere, it appears that they are lowering the percentage that the United States is sending. Although the amount of gases we send into the atmosphere is small compared to what is found in the atmosphere, the levels are still higher than in the pre industrial age and are still growing.

Index of the increase of CO levels in the atmosphere.

The countries highlighted burn fossil fuels improperly and send unhealthy gases into the air.

There are also significant problems resulting from carbon monoxide levels increasing in the atmosphere. Carbon monoxide is made when burning particles are not burned properly. The amount of CO in the air is creating problems within the ozone.