Greenhouse Effect Essay

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GREEN HOUSE EFFECT INTRODUCTION The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. There are two common meanings of the term "greenhouse effect". There is a "natural" greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth's climate warm and habitable. There is also the "man-made" greenhouse effect, which is the enhancement of Earth's natural greenhouse effect by the addition of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels (mainly petroleum, coal, and natural gas). Greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane etc., move in and out of the atmosphere. They trap some of the heat radiated out from the Earth that would normally move out into space. This is called the greenhouse effect. It is natural, and is caused by the earth's carbon and water cycles and the heat from the sun. The greenhouse effect is the heating of the surface of a planet or moon due to the presence of an atmosphere containing gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation. Thus, greenhouse gases trap heat within the surface-troposphere system. The existence of the greenhouse effect was argued for by Joseph Fourier in 1824. The argument and the evidence was further strengthened by Claude Pouillet in 1827 and 1838, and reasoned from experimental observations by John Tyndall in 1859, and more fully quantified by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, clearing of forests, using more electronic gadgets, using more motor vehicles like motorcar, motorbike etc, have intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing global warming etc. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, 260 hundred years ago, we have been burning fossil fuels, initially coal, then oil and natural gas in much greater quantities than before. Fossil fuels

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