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Greenhouse Effect Greenhouse Effect, term for the role the atmosphere plays in insulating and warming the earths surface. The atmosphere is pretty much transparent to incoming solar radiation. When this radiation strikes the earths surface, some of it is absorbed, warming the earths surface. Earth s surface emits some of this energy back out in the form of infrared radiation. As this infrared radiation travels through the atmosphere, most of it is absorbed by atmospheric gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor. These gases then re-emit infrared radiation, some of which strikes and is absorbed by the earth.
The absorption of infrared energy by the atmosphere and the earth, called the greenhouse effect, maintains a temperature range on earth that makes it a regular temperature for life. Without the greenhouse effect, the earth would be a frozen planet with an average temperature of about - 18. C (about 0. F).
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 28 percent in the last hundred years (and could rise more than 40 percent in the next hundred years). While some scientists blame the rise in natural fluctuations in the level of carbon dioxide, others blame the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. The slash-and-burn clearing of tropical forests may also be a contributing factor. Other gases that add to the greenhouse effect, such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons, are increasing even faster. The net effect of these increases could be global warming. In 1995 a group of leading scientists convened by the United Nations predicted a worldwide rise in global temperature s of 1. 0.
tto 6. 3. F), with a best estimate oF), by 2100. Warming of this magnitude would alter climates throughout the world, affect crop production, and cause sea levels to rise. If this happened, millions of people would be affected by major flooding... Efforts: Lots of international efforts have been undertaken to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The most recent effort was in 1997, when representative from 160 countries met in Kyoto, Japan to negotiate an agreement to reduce worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases.
The agreement, known as the Kyoto Protocol, obligates 38 industrialized nations to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases. Specifically, by 2012, emissions must be at an average of about 5 percent below the level of 1990 emissions. The United States, which is responsible for 20 percent of the total global emissions, pledged to reduce its emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels, while the European Union pledged to reduce its emissions to 8 percent below 1990 levels.
Free research essays on topics related to: infrared radiation, greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, greenhouse effect, earths surface
Research essay sample on Greenhouse Gases Infrared Radiation
