Table of Contents
How do greenhouse gases warm the Earth?
Greenhouse gas molecules in the atmosphere absorb light, preventing some of it from escaping the Earth. This heats up the atmosphere and raises the planet’s average temperature.
What do greenhouse gases do in our atmosphere?
Greenhouse gases are transparent to incoming (short-wave) radiation from the sun but block infrared (long-wave) radiation from leaving the earth’s atmosphere. This greenhouse effect traps radiation from the sun and warms the planet’s surface.
What is meant by greenhouse effect in simple words?
The greenhouse effect is the problem caused by increased quantities of gases such as carbon dioxide in the air. These gases trap the heat from the sun, and cause a gradual rise in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere.
How do greenhouse gases affect the Earth’s atmosphere?
“Greenhouse gas molecules will absorb that light, causing the bonds between atoms to vibrate,” says Jesse Kroll, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering at MIT. “This traps the energy, which would otherwise go back into space, and so has the effect of heating up the atmosphere.”
How does a greenhouse trap heat?
A real greenhouse traps heat because its glass stops the warm air inside from transferring heat to the colder surrounding air. Greenhouse gases don’t stop heat transfer in this way, but as this piece explains, in the end they have a similar effect on the Earth’s temperature.
What is the ‘greenhouse effect’?
The ‘greenhouse effect’ is the warming of climate that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. Certain gases in the atmosphere resemble glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight to pass into the ‘greenhouse,’ but blocking Earth’s heat from escaping into space.
How does the atmosphere affect the absorption of infrared light?
The incoming IR light is partially absorbed by water vapor in the atmosphere, and to a lesser extent by other atmospheric gases. But the outgoing energy is much more seriously affected. On average, 90\% of the energy radiated by the surface of the earth is trapped before it can escape, absorbed by the atmosphere and clouds.