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[Free topic] The greenhouse effect |
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by Diana Gamazova | 17-03-2021 14:34
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The phenomenon of the greenhouse effect is an increase in the temperature of the lower layers of the planet's atmosphere compared to the effective temperature, that is, the temperature of the planet's thermal radiation observed from space. The mechanism of the greenhouse effect was first described in 1827 by Joseph Fourier. Fourier suggested that the optical properties of the Earth's atmosphere are similar to those of glass, whose transparency in the infrared range is lower than in the optical range. By absorbing visible light, the surface heats up and emits thermal (infrared) rays, and since the atmosphere is less transparent for thermal radiation, heat accumulates near the Earth's surface. The ability of the atmosphere not to pass heat radiation is caused by the presence of greenhouse gases in it. The main greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone. In recent decades, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased significantly. It is believed that the reason for this growth is human activity. The regular increase in average annual temperatures in the late eighties and early nineties of the twentieth century raised fears that global warming caused by human activity had already begun. Today, there is a consensus among scientists that the main factor that affects the greenhouse effect on Earth is human activity. The mechanism of the greenhouse effect can be described as follows: the Earth's surface, warming up due to the radiation coming from the Sun, itself becomes a source of long-wave infrared (thermal) radiation. Some of this radiation goes into space, and some is reflected by some atmospheric gases and warms the surface air layers. This phenomenon, similar to the retention of heat under the transparent film of greenhouses, is called the greenhouse effect. One of the main positive consequences of the greenhouse effect is the additional "heating" of the surface of our planet, thanks to which the appearance of life on Earth became possible. Without the greenhouse effect, the average annual air temperature at the earth's surface would be only-18oC. The cause of the greenhouse effect was the huge amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide that entered the Earth's atmosphere hundreds of millions of years ago due to extremely active volcanic activity. Due to the high concentration of carbon dioxide, thousands of times higher than the current one, a "super-greenhouse" effect was observed, which caused the water temperature in the World's oceans to be close to the boiling point. Over time, with the appearance of green vegetation, carbon dioxide began to be actively absorbed from the Earth's atmosphere, the greenhouse effect began to decrease, until an equilibrium was established that allowed the average annual temperature to remain at +15oC. With the intensification of human industrial activity, huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases began to be released into the atmosphere again. As a result, from 1906 to 2005, the average annual temperature rose by 0.74 degrees, and in the near future, the increase will be up to 0.2 degrees per decade. The increased greenhouse effect contributes to climate change, which consists in an increase in temperature and a change in the frequency and intensity of precipitation. Because of global warming, glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, biological diversity is threatened, crops are dying, fresh water sources are drying up, all of this has a negative impact not only on the quality of life, but also on human health.  |
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3 Comments
Hi Diana,
thanks for sharing such a nice report on green house effect.
keep writing.
regards
sharmila
Posted 01-04-2021 22:04
Hi Diana,
This is your mentor Debbie. :)
I??ve only heard of Fourier from Fourier Series (I'm not sure if you??re aware of it but that's a mathematical concept, haha) I didn??t know the whole idea of greenhouse effect came from Fourier! Global warming is indeed a serious issue - the increase in average temperature is causing lots of side effects such as glacier melting and sea level rising as you mentioned in the last paragraph.
This needs to be corrected! If only there was a way to significantly reduce the “super-greenhouse”. I hope that the equilibrium would be reached again - not sure if it??s possible though - but to achieve this we must reduce emission and absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases at the same time!
Thanks for an informative report ;)

Green Cheers,

Debbie
Posted 20-03-2021 21:18
Hi Diana, this is your mentor Yuseon:)
I just read one of your free reports, yet you wrote another one in such a short time!
Keep up the good work!
Anyways, back to the report. Thank you for your informative report on the full story of the Greenhouse Effect and its cause. Many only discuss the harm of it, but it was quite interesting of you to point out that without the greenhouse effect, the average annual air temperature at the earth's surface would be only-18 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, there is no need of further discussion that its heating the Earth more than needed.
Also, is the last image made by yourself? If not, it would be better to show the source of it in the upcoming reports.
Good job,
Yuseon
Posted 19-03-2021 16:09