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Apr 25, 2017 · Because the atmosphere is a thin layer when compared to the size of the earth, it faces more severe problems from human activity than other components of the planet. It is a mixture of many gases but its composition is changing.
- Consequences of Soil Pollution
Third, plants growing on polluted soil take up contaminants...
- Environmental Problems & Solutions
Ground-level ozone, particulate matter, lead, sulfur...
- Desert Biome Environmental Problems
Though droughts trigger desertification, human activity is...
- How The Atmosphere Protects The Earth
A meteoroid is a small rock or object drifting in space. A...
- How Does a Waste Incinerator Work
The waste destroyed by the incinerator, both the gas and the...
- The Effect of Water Pollution on Land
The potential for additional environmental threats from...
- Types of Pollution Found in Brownfields
The susceptibility of animals to brownfield pollutants...
- Which of Man's Activities Speeds Up Erosion
Wind, water and glaciers all wear down soil and rock and...
- Consequences of Soil Pollution
Oct 19, 2023 · Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide —the most dangerous and prevalent greenhouse gas —are at the highest levels ever recorded. Greenhouse gas levels are so high primarily because humans have released them into the air by burning fossil fuels.
- Overview
- Major greenhouse gases and sources
- Effects of greenhouse gases
- How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas that drives global climate change, continues to rise every month. Find out the dangerous role it and other gases play.
By trapping heat from the sun, greenhouse gases have kept Earth's climate habitable for humans and millions of other species. But those gases are now out of balance and threaten to change drastically which living things can survive on this planet—and where.
Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide—the most dangerous and prevalent greenhouse gas—are at the highest levels ever recorded. Greenhouse gas levels are so high primarily because humans have released them into the air by burning fossil fuels. The gases absorb solar energy and keep heat close to Earth's surface, rather than letting it escape into space. That trapping of heat is known as the greenhouse effect.
The roots of the greenhouse effect concept lie in the 19th century, when French mathematician Joseph Fourier calculated in 1824 that the Earth would be much colder if it had no atmosphere. In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius was the first to link a rise in carbon dioxide gas from burning fossil fuels with a warming effect. Nearly a century later, American climate scientist James E. Hansen testified to Congress that “The greenhouse effect has been detected and is changing our climate now."
Today, climate change is the term scientists use to describe the complex shifts, driven by greenhouse gas concentrations, that are now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems. Climate change encompasses not only the rising average temperatures we refer to as global warming but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and and habitats, rising seas, and a range of other impacts.
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Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas, responsible for about three-quarters of emissions. It can linger in the atmosphere for thousands of years. In 2018, carbon dioxide levels reached 411 parts per million at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, the highest monthly average ever recorded. Carbon dioxide emissions mainly come from burning organic materials: coal, oil, gas, wood, and solid waste.
Methane (CH4): The main component of natural gas, methane is released from landfills, natural gas and petroleum industries, and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals). A molecule of methane doesn't stay in the atmosphere as long as a molecule of carbon dioxide—about 12 years—but it is at least 84 times more potent over two decades. It accounts for about 16 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O): Nitrous oxide occupies a relatively small share of global greenhouse gas emissions—about six percent—but it is 264 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over 20 years, and its lifetime in the atmosphere exceeds a century, according to the IPCC. Agriculture and livestock, including fertilizer, manure, and burning of agricultural residues, along with burning fuel, are the biggest sources of nitrous oxide emissions.
Industrial gases: Fluorinated gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) have heat-trapping potential thousands of times greater than CO2 and stay in the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years. Accounting for about 2 percent of all emissions, they're used as refrigerants, solvents, and in manufacturing, sometimes occurring as byproducts.
Greenhouse gases have far-ranging environmental and health effects. They cause climate change by trapping heat, and they also contribute to respiratory disease from smog and air pollution. Extreme weather, food supply disruptions, and increased wildfires are other effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gases. The typical weather patterns we've grown to expect will change; some species will disappear; others will migrate or grow. (Read more about greenhouse gas effects via climate change here.)
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Climate 101: Air Pollution
What is air pollution? Learn how greenhouse gases, smog, and toxic pollutants affect climate change, and human health.
Virtually every sector of the global economy, from manufacturing to agriculture to transportation to power production, contributes greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, so all of them must evolve away from fossil fuels if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Countries around the world acknowledged this reality with the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015. The changes will be most important among the biggest emitters: Twenty countries are responsible for at least three-quarters of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, with China, the United States, and India leading the way.
The technologies for ramping down greenhouse gas emissions already exist, for the most part. They include swapping fossil fuels for renewable sources, boosting energy efficiency, and discouraging carbon emissions by putting a price on them. (Read more about such solutions here.)
- Christina Nunez
Mar 10, 2022 · The reason: People are loading the atmosphere with heat-trapping gases produced during the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, and from cutting down forests.
The greenhouse effect is essential to life on Earth, but human-made emissions in the atmosphere are trapping and slowing heat loss to space. Five key greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor.
Sep 9, 2021 · Climate change is caused by an increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, mostly from fossil fuel emissions.
People also ask
What problems does the atmosphere face?
Who is most at risk for air pollution?
Why are people loading the atmosphere with heat-trapping gases?
How does nitrous oxide affect the atmosphere?
The most common greenhouse gas is actually water vapor, like in clouds. But because water vapor quickly leaves the atmosphere as rain, we don’t have to worry about our “water emissions.” On the other hand, warmer air can hold more water vapor without causing a rainstorm.
