The Greenhouse Effect, humanity’s #1 problem

In recent decades, the greenhouse effect has been in the spotlight world public. However, here we must distinguish between the natural greenhouse effect of one whose activities are caused by man. The greenhouse effect is essential for life because, without it, the average temperature would be about minus 18˚C. Due to the natural greenhouse effect today, the average temperature on the planet is around +14 ˚C. The greenhouse effect on Earth and in the atmosphere is very similar to greenhouses used in farming. The Sun passes through the walls and roof made of glass, reaches and heats the ground. The heated area then begins to emit energy. That light was transformed into heat absorbed by the walls and a greenhouse roof.

So the Sun can reach the ground inside the greenhouse but cannot return to the atmosphere again because, on its way back, it can’t get through the roof due to a change in its wavelength.

Therefore, the Sun continues to enter and remain trapped inside the greenhouse, significantly increasing the temperature of the space inside the greenhouse. To simplify, in this case, the walls and the roof of the greenhouse plays the same role as the layer of air around the planet Earth, which we call the atmosphere. Humanity on planet Earth is balancing on a wire as far as maintaining natural living conditions is concerned. We will understand this statement more easily if we look at it the nearest planets are Mars and Venus.

Greenhouse effect on Mars and Venus

Venus, which is closer to the Sun than the Earth, has an atmosphere that consists mainly of carbon dioxide. The gas is much denser than the Earth’s atmosphere. The temperature on Venus is about 0˚C at cloud height, while next to the soil surface reaches + 500˚C. Those high temperatures come precisely because of the greenhouse effect. They can’t exist at such temperatures any more complex life forms. Mars is further away from the Sun than the Earth, so it gets less solar energy. Mars has a thin atmosphere.

The atmospheric pressure on Mars is 200 times lighter than on the surface of the Earth. Therefore, the greenhouse effect on Mars not present. It’s very cold on Mars: the temperature varies from -50˚C at mid-latitudes to -100˚C at its poles. Recent discoveries suggest that there may be simpler life forms on Mars. However, the atmosphere on this planet is unstable, and the water necessary for the development of life is frozen. Therefore life couldn’t appear in such harsh conditions as complex life forms such as animals, plants, and humans. However, a balance has been established on Earth the atmosphere, and the greenhouse effect, with an average annual temperature of + 14˚C.

It means it is neither too hot nor too cold to give birth to live. Unfortunately, as a consequence human activities cause the release of gases that cause condensing the atmosphere, increase the greenhouse effect, and raise the temperature, thus leading to climatic change. All this will have serious consequences.
The biggest concern of the government should be the greenhouse effect leading to changes in temperature on Earth. If this happens, the sea level will rise, and the precipitation schedule will change. Large areas will be submerged as well hundreds of millions of people will have to leave their homes. Large migrations of people, caused by changes in conditions life and the destruction of their settlements could have serious consequences.

What would happen in the future

Scientists around the world believe that by the end of the 21st century, the average World temperatures would rise by 3˚C if greenhouse gas emissions gases are not drastically reduced. Three degrees in a hundred years may not sound too dramatic, but it would be the largest temperature rise in the past 10,000 years, which would cause the highest average temperature in the latter 150,000 years.

Other consequences of energy use

The leftovers of the burning of organic material also enter the atmosphere. They release substances such as nitrogen and sulfur in the form of their oxide. Fossil fuels contain much larger amounts of these ingredients than, for example, wood. After some time, these ingredients react chemically with oxygen and water, which results in acid rain, smog, and ozone. These contaminants can be found both locally and regionally level.

Large thermal power plants occupy huge areas of land, which means that the use of that land is prevented for agriculture or green areas. Depending on for what purposes that terrain could otherwise have been used, this can lead to conflicts between stakeholders who have conflicting interests. The use of radioactive materials in nuclear power plants also causes huge additional and new environmental problems.

An example of the greenhouse effect

We will need two thermometers for this example, small enough to each of them can fit in a jam jar with a lid on screwing. Put a piece of black matte cardboard in the first jar which will cover approximately half the height of the glass jar surfaces. In this jar, the thermometer should be set aside on a carded side. In another jar, place a piece of aluminum foil on the same way you placed the black cardboard in the first jar. And in this jar, the thermometer should stand on its side darkened foil. Place jars, one next to the other others, in direct sunlight.

Set them on some substrate that can serve as thermal insulation. Make sure they are thermometers placed on the darkened sides of the jar. Soon you will see that the temperature rises faster in the jar with black cardboard. Here are what’s happening here: The sun’s rays coming at us, they contain both short and long electromagnetic waves. Glass transmits short waves well so they pass through the glass. In a jar with an aluminum foil of the sun’s rays, they bounce off the metal. Their wavelength remains unchanged, and they come out of the jar just as easily as they entered.

Collects (absorbs) rays in a jar with black cardboard, which is heated in the process, as a result, increases the temperature in the jar. Heated black cardboard then it begins to emit heat, but it is wavy the length of the heat rays is greater than the wavelength of the solar air, so they cannot pass through the glass again and get out of the jar. The energy of the air thus remains in the jar, thus increasing the temperature inside it. This is how the earth’s atmosphere works. No atmosphere of the average temperature on earth would be -18˚C.

Summary

The greenhouse effect is an expression of the warming of the Earth. It is caused by the disturbance of the energy balance. This effect is the result of an increase in the amount of radiation that cannot be emitted from the Earth’s surface into space but is absorbed by the atmosphere and becomes warmer. The Earth’s atmosphere absorbs part (about 30%) of the energy directly emitted by the Sun, while the rest (radiation of smaller wavelengths) falls to the ground and heats it and the ground then emits infrared rays (smaller wavelengths) which under normal circumstances, mostly go to space. However, if there are gases in the atmosphere that absorb this radiation, the temperature of the atmosphere will increase.

In short, the Sun emits energy of various wavelengths, a good part of it reaches the Earth’s surface, contributes to the creation and maintenance of its life on Earth, and part of that radiation is then emitted into space, and nature is in balance. If something retains some of that radiation, the balance is upset, and problems arise. What retains radiation is known as greenhouse gases, and the problems that arise are known as global warming.

The gases with the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O), nitrogen dioxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and ozone (O3).