The Greenhouse Effect????????????

Question

1.) Without the greenhouse effect, how would the overall temperatures on earth differ from what they are now?

2.) the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and ozone. In relation to the greenhouse effect, what is it that these gases do?

3. When does the presence of these gases become a problem?

You know that the “job” of the greenhouse gases is to retain heat in our atmosphere so that the average temperature on earth is a comfortable 60o F, and that the problem arises when there is an increase in the amount of these gases in our atmosphere.

4. Based on this information, having more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will do to the average temperatures in the atmosphere and why?

Answer 1

1)  The greenhouse effect works by bouncing infrared light that is reflected (based on the Earth's albedo) off the Earth's surface from the light emitted from the Sun.  The greenhouse gasses (CO2, O3, and Water Vapor) as well as other gasses (Methane, for example), prevent the infrared light from going out into space.  Instead, the infrared energy stays in Earth's atmosphere.

Without the greenhouse effect, there would be no way for the Earth to hold heat from the Sun.  The Earth would only be heated via it's internal heat and emitted only through the thermal emissions of magma.

2) Water Vapor actually is the largest contributor to the Earth's overall temperature.  However, the atmosphere can only hold so much water vapor and that amount is dictated through the temperature.  Simply put:  The hotter the atmosphere is, the more water vapor it can hold.  But something needs to trigger the initial heating in the first place and that's where CO2, Methane, and O3 come in.  They start the heating process and when Water Vapor gets involved, the process can grow exponentially.

3)  It could a problem for humans, since a large number of us live near the oceans.  If the atmosphere takes in more CO2 than it gives out (oceans, rocks, and plants all take in CO2 out of the atmosphere) then the global temperature could rise at a rate faster than normal warming/cooling trends of the past.  This could lead to more costly alterations to society's infrastructure, as well as displacing many refugees in a shorter time span than we can financially deal with.  It's not an 'end of the world!' event, it's a slow, draining process.

4)  The more greenhouse gasses we have, the more infrared energy that will be bounced back on the Earth's surface instead of going into space.  The Earth's atmosphere will heat up.