18.

7 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND GLOBAL WARMING

The Earth receives energy from the sun at the rate of about 340
watts per square meter (W/m2) of its surface. This energy
arrives in the form of electromagnetic radiation (Module 14.2),
mainly light and heat. About 30% of the energy is reflected back
into space, mostly by clouds and the polar ice caps. The
remaining 70% is absorbed by, and warms, the atmosphere, the
oceans and the continents. This makes the Earth much hotter A greenhouse is an enclosure for
than surrounding space, so it also loses heat by radiation. There growing crops that need warmth.
is an equilibrium (a balance) between the heat that the Earth It is made of glass or clear plastic
gains from the sun and the heat that it loses by radiation into which let in the heat of the sun
space. This equilibrium keeps the average temperature at the and then trap the warm air inside.
surface almost constant at about 14C.
The greenhouse effect is an effect that traps some of the heat
which the Earth would otherwise lose by radiation. This effect was first predicted by the French
physicist Joseph Fournier in 1824 to explain why the Earth was warmer than it should be based
on its distance from the sun. Details of the
Surface Type of radiation emitted effect were finally worked out by the
temperature Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius in 1896.
The table on the left shows that the sun has
Sun 6000 C High energy light and heat an average surface temperature of about
6000C. It radiates high energy light and
Earth 14 C Low energy heat heat rays. The Earth has an average surface
temperature of only 14C. It radiates low
energy heat rays. Greenhouse gases in the
air let through the incoming high energy rays but absorb some of the outgoing low energy rays.
The energy they absorb makes the greenhouse gas molecules warmer than the surrounding air
and they radiate heat in all directions. Part of this heat goes back down towards the surface of the
Earth as shown in the diagram. This reduces the amount of heat that the Earth would otherwise
lose by radiation. Without the greenhouse effect, the average temperature at the surface of the
Earth would be about 32C less than it is; a very
chilly -18C! The most important greenhouse
gases are listed in the table below. Their
contributions to the total effect vary depending on
the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gas Contribution to

greenhouse effect
SOME ENERGY ABSORBED BY GREENHOUSE
Water vapour, H2O Up to 72%
GASES AND RE-EMITTED IN ALL DIRECTIONS
Carbon dioxide, CO2 Up to 26%
RADIATION FROM EARTHS SURFACE
Methane, CH4 Up to 9%
Global warming refers to the ongoing rise in
the average temperature of the Earths
atmosphere and oceans since the start of the last century. Rising levels of carbon dioxide, due to
industrial and commercial activity including deforestation, are causing an increase in the
greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced by the burning of fossil fuels in motor
vehicles and power stations (to make electricity), and in many industrial processes especially the
manufacture of iron, steel and cement. Deforestation by burning and felling trees not only
produces additional CO2, it also reduces the number of trees removing CO 2 from the atmosphere
by photosynthesis. The graphs below show that the rise in CO 2 levels, and the rise in
temperature, are accelerating. Global
0.7 380 warming has started to melt the ice at
0.6
Rise of
370
Concentration
the poles and to change weather
0.5 temperature 360 of CO patterns. The effects of climate change
2

0.4 ( C ) 350
(parts per
are hard to predict in detail but will
0.3 340 million) include rising sea levels and more
0.2 330 extreme weather events such as
0.1 320
cyclones, floods and droughts.
Year Year
1. Why is the greenhouse effect so called?
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2. Explain in your own words (i) the
Trend in temperature of atmosphere Trend of CO2 in atmosphere
greenhouse effect, (ii) global warming, (iii)
climate change, (iv) deforestation, (v) fossil
fuels, (vi) pollution.
3. Between the years 1960 and 2000, what was the rise in (i) the concentration of CO2 (ii) the Earths temperature?

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