Why We Compare the Greenhouse Effect to an Actual Greenhouse

When I was in elementary and middle school I was always thought the green house effect was the depletion of the ozone. But in fact this is not true. The greenhouse effect is a important natural process that takes place. This process captures and releases radiation from the sun. The greenhouse effect is the reason the earth is heated, if it wasn't for the greenhouse effect the average high temperature on earth would be sixty degrees Fahrenheit.

In order to explain how the greenhouse effect works I will first need to explain how a greenhouse works. A greenhouse is a glass building filled with plants. The sun shines in and the heat from it is trapped in side the greenhouse. This heats the planets and everything in the greenhouse. This helps to keep plants warm in the winter.

If you can picture a giant sphere shaped greenhouse around the earth it may make it easier to understand. Sunlight enters the earths atmosphere, the light contains short and long wavelengths. Some of these wavelengths are reflected from the earth, while others enter earths atmosphere. From here the short wavelengths pass though a blanket of greenhouse gases. These gases are mainly carbon monoxide, ozone, methane and water vapor. This can be seen in the attached imaged entitled greenhouse. Carbon
dioxide produces essentially the whole of its effect through absorption
at infrared wavelengths from about 13.5mm to 17.5mm.

"Reflected solar radiation accounts for 30% of the Earth's total radiation: on average, 6% of the incoming solar radiation is reflected by the atmosphere, 20% is reflected by clouds, and 4% is reflected by the surface. The remaining 70% of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed: 16% by the atmosphere 3% by clouds; and 51% by the land and oceans. This absorbed energy heats the atmosphere, oceans, and land and powers life on the planet. It should be noted that the surface of the Earth is in constant flux with daily, yearly and age long cycles and trends in temperature and other variables for a variety of causes; thus these percentages apply on average only" (Unknown, 2005).

The ocean absorbs most of the carbon dioxide, the more carbon it absorbs the more likely we are to see an El Niño. The greenhouse gases trap the heat and radiation this it what makes the earth so warm. Clouds reflect around seventeen percent of the radiation back into outer space.

"It consists of one carbon atom with an oxygen atom bonded to each side. When its atoms are bonded tightly together, the carbon dioxide molecule can absorb infrared radiation and the molecule starts to vibrate. Eventually, the vibrating molecule will emit the radiation again, and it will likely be absorbed by yet another greenhouse gas molecule. This absorption-emission-absorption cycle serves to keep the heat near the surface, effectively insulating the surface from the cold of space"(NCAR, 2006).

In recent years the greenhouse effect and goal warming have came more and more into the news. Global warming is cases by the natural process of the greenhouse effect as well as the burning of fossil fuels. All this will eventually lead to the melting of ices caps, flooding, distribution, and a rise in temperature across the world. The rise in temperature may be any where from five to ten degrees.

There are many things they we can do to help slow down this process the first of which is public awareness. In 1963 a clean air act was pasted in congress to help slow down the process. Other things that can be done is to stop the burring of fossil fuel, which is what powers most of the world; so in this case this is very unlikely to occur. But there are other things that each person can do to help. Such as car pooling to help cut back on air postulation It would also be beneficial for everyone to plant trees and other plants. Planets help to ride the air of carbon dioxide.

References

NCAR, (2006). Thee Greenhouse Effect. Retrieved July 1, 2007, from The National Center For Atmospheric Research Web site: http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_3_1.htm

Unknown, (2005). Greenhouse Effect. Retrieved July 1, 2007, from Crstalink Web site: http://www.crystalinks.com/greenhouseffect.html The Greenhouse Vs. The Greenhouse effect: This essay will briefly address why we compare the greenhouse effect to an actual greenhouse.