Q.Describe 'Greenhouse Effect'.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The greenhouse effect is the trapping of the sun's reflected heat by atmospheric gases, warming the Earth; excess greenhouse gases from human activity have intensified this effect into global warming.
Mechanism:
The sun's short-wavelength radiation passes easily through the atmosphere and warms the Earth's surface. The surface, in turn, re-radiates this energy as longer-wavelength infrared (heat) radiation. Certain atmospheric gases - called greenhouse gases - absorb and re-emit (trap) part of this outgoing infrared radiation instead of letting it escape into space, which warms the lower atmosphere and Earth's surface. This process is called the greenhouse effect, named by analogy with a glass greenhouse, whose glass similarly lets sunlight in but traps heat inside.
Major greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), water vapour, nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and ozone (O3).
Natural vs enhanced greenhouse effect:
- The natural greenhouse effect is essential for life - without it, Earth's average surface temperature would be about -18C instead of the actual ~15C, making the planet far too cold to sustain most life as we know it. …
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