The Greenhouse Effect Flashcards
What is the greenhouse effect?
Some of the electromagnetic radiation from the Sun reaches the Earth and is absorbed.
The Earth then re-emits it as infrared radiation (heat).
Various gases in the troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere) absorb some of this infrared radiation and remit it in all directions- including back towards Earth.
What are the three main greenhouse gases?
Water vapour
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Their molecules absorb IR radiation to make the bonds in the molecule vibrate more.
This extra energy is passed on to other molecules in the air by collisions, giving other molecules more kinetic energy and raising the overall temperature.
Not all greenhouse gases contribute the same amount to the greenhouse effect. The contribution of any particular gas depends on a number of factors, including:
- How much IR radiation one molecule of the gas absorbs.
- How much of that gas there is in the atmosphere.
- How long the gas stays in the atmosphere for (this is called the residence time).
What is global warming?
The warming of the planet due to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the troposphere which enhances the greenhouse effect.
What is carbon capture and storage (CCS)?
Removing waste from CO2 from power stations and either…
- injecting it as a liquid into the deep ocean, or
- storing it deep underground- one possibility is to use old oil-or gas fields under the sea bed, or
- reacting it with metal oxides to form stable, easily stored carbonate minerals, e.g calcium carbonate.
Outline the stages that take place in a catalytic converter to allow CO to react with NO.
CO and NO are adsorbed onto surface.
Weakening of bonds/ lowers activation energy
CO2 and N2 desorbs from the surface
