Greenhouse Gases - Assignment Example

Halmann and Steinberg (1) explain that Earth has blanket-like atmospheres that prevent heat from the solar radiation directed from the sun to the earth. The authors point out that the atmosphere maintains the temperature of the earth at 15 degrees Celsius. However, without atmosphere, the temperatures would have been lower, approximately -19 degrees Celsius. This fact can be explained clearly from the lower surface temperatures of the moon. The moon has no atmosphere making it inhabitable, unlike the earth.

The earth's surface is warm due to a blanket-like atmosphere; the atmosphere is created by gases in the atmosphere of the earth. The gases are referred to as greenhouse gases because of their capability to trap heat. Some of the gases behind the earth’s atmosphere are carbon dioxide and water vapor. Other greenhouse gases include nitrous oxide and methane (Greenhouse Effect).

Some of the greenhouse gases mentioned above are carbon dioxide and water vapor. Carbon dioxide CO2 as the name suggest has a carbon atom and two-oxygen atoms. Two atoms of oxygen are bonded to CO2. As a molecule, all three atoms are bonded making it easy to absorb energy from the sun in form of infrared radiation. The infrared radiation is absorbed by the molecule and so the molecule vibrates. Vibrating molecule loses the previously absorbed radiation easily which in turn another molecule absorbs it. This goes in the cycle and in the end the infrared radiation is not lost, therefore, the surface of the earth is kept warm. Nitrous oxide, methane and water vapor do the same as carbon dioxide. Their molecules absorb and lose heart because they are loosely bound to compound atoms (Greenhouse Effect).

Greenhouse gases previously in the 19th century were seen as natural functioning gases with positive effects. However, in the mid-20th-century people became more concerned with greenhouse gases due to changes in climate and increasing temperatures. Some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane are natural. There are other gases that are influenced by man, some of them are chlorofluorocarbons and hydrocarbons. The combination of both natural and man-made greenhouse gases is the cause of climate change and rising temperatures (National Climate Data Centre).

Carbon dioxide occurs naturally, however, with the increasing use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere causing more effect on the greenhouse. Additionally, the greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide increases global temperatures. High temperatures lead to an increase in water vapor. Water vapor as mentioned earlier is part of greenhouse gases (Halmann and Steinberg 2).