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GreenhouseeffectWikipedia

Greenhouseeffect
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Thegreenhouseeffectistheprocessbywhichradiationfromaplanet's
atmospherewarmstheplanet'ssurfacetoatemperatureabovewhatit
wouldbewithoutitsatmosphere.[1][2]
Ifaplanet'satmospherecontainsradiativelyactivegases(i.e.,greenhouse
gases)theatmospherewillradiateenergyinalldirections.Partofthis
radiationisdirectedtowardsthesurface,warmingit.Thedownward
componentofthisradiationthatis,thestrengthofthegreenhouseeffect
willdependontheatmosphere'stemperatureandontheamountof
greenhousegasesthattheatmospherecontains.
OnEarth,theatmosphereiswarmedbyabsorptionofinfraredthermal
radiationfromtheunderlyingsurface(heatedbythesun),absorptionof
shorterwavelengthradiantenergyfromthesun,andconvectiveheatfluxes
fromthesurface.Greenhousegasesintheatmosphereradiateenergy,some
ofwhichisdirectedtothesurfaceandloweratmosphere.Themechanism
thatproducesthisdifferencebetweentheactualsurfacetemperatureandthe
effectivetemperatureisduetotheatmosphereandisknownasthe
greenhouseeffect.[3]

Arepresentationoftheexchangesof
energybetweenthesource(theSun),
Earth'ssurface,theEarth's
atmosphere,andtheultimatesink
outerspace.Theabilityofthe
atmospheretocaptureandrecycle
energyemittedbyEarth'ssurfaceis
thedefiningcharacteristicofthe
greenhouseeffect.

Earthsnaturalgreenhouseeffectiscriticaltosupportinglife.Human
activities,primarilytheburningoffossilfuelsandclearingofforests,have
intensifiedthenaturalgreenhouseeffect,causingglobalwarming.[4]
Themechanismisnamedafterafaultyanalogywiththeeffectofsolar
radiationpassingthroughglassandwarmingagreenhouse.Thewaya
greenhouseretainsheatisfundamentallydifferent,asagreenhouseworks
byreducingairflowandretainingwarmairinsidethestructure.[2][5][6]

Contents

Anotherdiagramofthegreenhouse
effect

1 History
2 Mechanism
3 Greenhousegases
4 Roleinclimatechange
5 Realgreenhouses
6 BodiesotherthanEarth
7 Seealso
8 References
9 Furtherreading
10 Externallinks

History
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TheexistenceofthegreenhouseeffectwasarguedforbyJosephFourierin1824.Theargumentandtheevidence
werefurtherstrengthenedbyClaudePouilletin1827and1838andreasonedfromexperimentalobservationsby
JohnTyndallin1859.[7]TheeffectwasmorefullyquantifiedbySvanteArrheniusin1896.[8]However,theterm
"greenhouse"wasnotusedtorefertothiseffectbyanyofthesescientiststhetermwasfirstusedinthiswayby
NilsGustafEkholmin1901.[9][10]
In1917AlexanderGrahamBellwrote"[Theuncheckedburningoffossilfuels]wouldhaveasortofgreenhouse
effect",and"Thenetresultisthegreenhousebecomesasortofhothouse."[11][12]Bellwentontoalsoadvocatethe
useofalternateenergysources,suchassolarenergy.[13]

Mechanism
EarthreceivesenergyfromtheSunintheformofultraviolet,visible,andnearinfraredradiation.Ofthetotal
amountofsolarenergyavailableatthetopoftheatmosphere,about26%isreflectedtospacebytheatmosphere
andcloudsand19%isabsorbedbytheatmosphereandclouds.Mostoftheremainingenergyisabsorbedatthe
surfaceofEarth.BecausetheEarth'ssurfaceiscolderthanthephotosphereoftheSun,itradiatesatwavelengths
thataremuchlongerthanthewavelengthsthatwereabsorbed.Mostofthisthermalradiationisabsorbedbythe
atmosphere,therebywarmingit.Inadditiontotheabsorptionofsolarandthermalradiation,theatmospherefurther
gainsheatbysensibleandlatentheatfluxesfromthesurface.Theatmosphereradiatesenergybothupwardsand
downwardsthepartradiateddownwardsisabsorbedbythesurfaceofEarth.Thisleadstoahigherequilibrium
temperaturethaniftheatmospherewereabsent.
AnidealthermallyconductiveblackbodyatthesamedistancefromtheSun
asEarthwouldhaveatemperatureofabout5.3C.However,because
Earthreflectsabout30%[14][15]oftheincomingsunlight,thisidealized
planet'seffectivetemperature(thetemperatureofablackbodythatwould
emitthesameamountofradiation)wouldbeabout18C.[16][17]The
surfacetemperatureofthishypotheticalplanetis33CbelowEarth'sactual
surfacetemperatureofapproximately14C.[18]
Thebasicmechanismcanbequalifiedinanumberofways,noneofwhich
affectthefundamentalprocess.Theatmospherenearthesurfaceislargely
Thesolarradiationspectrumfor
opaquetothermalradiation(withimportantexceptionsfor"window"
directlightatboththetopofEarth's
bands),andmostheatlossfromthesurfaceisbysensibleheatandlatent
atmosphereandatsealevel
heattransport.Radiativeenergylossesbecomeincreasinglyimportant
higherintheatmosphere,largelybecauseofthedecreasingconcentration
ofwatervapor,animportantgreenhousegas.Itismorerealistictothinkofthegreenhouseeffectasapplyingtoa
"surface"inthemidtroposphere,whichiseffectivelycoupledtothesurfacebyalapserate.Thesimplepicture
alsoassumesasteadystate,butintherealworld,therearevariationsduetothediurnalcycleaswellasthe
seasonalcycleandweatherdisturbances.Solarheatingonlyappliesduringdaytime.Duringthenight,the
atmospherecoolssomewhat,butnotgreatly,becauseitsemissivityislow.Diurnaltemperaturechangesdecrease
withheightintheatmosphere.
Withintheregionwhereradiativeeffectsareimportant,thedescriptiongivenbytheidealizedgreenhousemodel
becomesrealistic.Earth'ssurface,warmedtoatemperaturearound255K,radiateslongwavelength,infraredheat
intherangeof4100m.[19]Atthesewavelengths,greenhousegasesthatwerelargelytransparenttoincoming
solarradiationaremoreabsorbent.[19]Eachlayerofatmospherewithgreenhousesgasesabsorbssomeoftheheat
beingradiatedupwardsfromlowerlayers.Itreradiatesinalldirections,bothupwardsanddownwardsin
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