3.5 Flashcards
Most relevant greenhouse gases:
Carbon dioxide CO2
Water vapor H2O
Methane CH4
Nitrous oxide N2O
Released to the atmosphere by cell respiration in living organisms and also by combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. Removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and by dissolving in the oceans.
Carbon dioxide CO2
Released to the atmosphere by evaporation from the oceans and by transpiration in plants.
Removed from the atmosphere by precipitation: rainfall and snow
Water H2O
What’s the ability of water?
Absorbing heat energy and radiate it back to the Earth’s surface and also reflect the heat energy back.
Emitted from marshes and other waterlogged habitats.
Released from landfills, during extraction of fossil fuels and from melting ice in polar regions.
Methane CH4
Released naturally by bacteria in some habitats.
Also released by the following human activities:
Agriculture
Vehicle exhausts
Nitrous oxide N2O
Two factors determine the warming impact of a greenhouse gas:
Long-wave radiation absorption capacity
Atmospheric concentration
The atmospheric concentration of a greenhouse gas depends on:
- The amount of gases released to the atmosphere.
- How long it remains in the atmosphere.
a concept developed to compare each greenhouse gas’s ability to trap the atmospheric heat (long-wavelength radiation) in relation to carbon dioxide (CO2) in a specific period of time (Government of Canada, 2015).
Global warming potential
Is a natural process in which certain gases in the atmosphere keep heat near Earth and prevent it from radiating into space.
Greenhouse effect
An increase in Earth´s average surface temperature.
Global warming
Earth´s rising surface temperatures, changes in precipitation, melting ice, and rising sea levels.
Climate change
Main global impact of industrialization, 20th century
It increased the combustion of coal, oil and gas, so it increased the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, causing global warming
