The bulk of greenhouse gases are formed as a result. Causes, current state and ways to solve the problem of increasing the greenhouse effect
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In today's fast-paced world, new technological attempts are being made to combat pollution and waste. But one problem still remains unresolved: greenhouse gases. And although many of us have heard about it, we are still not sufficiently aware of the consequences it carries.
Concept
Greenhouse gases present in the atmospheres of all planets. Their formation is a natural process associated with the peculiarities of the properties of thermal energy. Before the emergence of the first living beings, they were actively produced in natural conditions. Gases have existed on the planet since the first rudiments of the atmosphere appeared, and it was thanks to them that the conditions for life were formed.
Specific concentration natural gas allowed the establishment of an adequate temperature for all living organisms. It turns out that their formation was initially associated exclusively with natural natural phenomena and processes. How did this happen?
It all started from the moment the sun's rays began to warm the surface of the planet. Carbon dioxide and other components that entered the atmosphere contained part of this energy, preventing it from being completely reflected from the surface and released into the atmosphere. space. The heating effect produced by this phenomenon was reminiscent of what happens in a gardener's greenhouse.
Later, active volcanoes joined the sources of natural gas. And after the appearance of green plants on Earth, conditions for life began to form.
Up to a certain point, the state of the atmosphere continued to be ideal: animal and vegetable world developed rapidly. And millions of years of evolution ultimately led to the emergence of Homo Sapiens - either the crown of her creation, or a curse.
Development of production, use of fuel, developments in agriculture and chemical industry led to emissions greenhouse gases increased, destabilizing the state of the atmosphere. Humanity is faced with a serious issue concerning the further well-being of the planet: the greenhouse effect caused by an increase in the level of greenhouse gases.
Compound
From the term itself it is clear that a greenhouse gas includes more than one chemical component, and they produce their effect in combination. In 1997, the UN adopted an agreement - the Kyoto Protocol, which received its name from the name of the city in which the meeting took place. In addition to the main requirement presented to most countries of the world, which implies a gradual reduction in the level of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, the document also adopted a list hazardous substances. Thus, greenhouse gases include:
- carbon dioxide
- methane
- nitrous oxide
- water vapor
- freons
- perfluorocarbons
- sulfur hexafluoride
The main four
While all of the substances on the list have significant impacts, the main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone.
Carbon dioxide is one of the most common gases in the atmosphere. Its share is approximately 64%, and it has the strongest impact on the climate. Initially, the source was volcanoes: at a certain stage in the development of the planet, volcanic activity was so high that the World Ocean was literally boiling.
Today, increases in CO 2 levels in the atmosphere are largely influenced by human activity. The release of greenhouse gases from the combustion of various fuel materials, increased emissions and deforestation - these factors increase gas volumes every year.
The greenhouse effect of methane is 25 times stronger and more dangerous than carbon dioxide. An increase in its level is facilitated by the development Agriculture, since its main sources are livestock waste products, combustion processes and rice cultivation. Today the figures are considered record highs, although the rate of their growth has decreased.
Nitrous oxide occupies one of the leading places in terms of volume in the atmosphere. The main source is the production and use of substances related to various mineral fertilizers. Exists natural spring natural gas - tropical jungle. According to estimates, about 70% of the substance is produced in such areas.
Ozone, which has nothing to do with life-saving ozone layer, is located in the lower layers of the troposphere. It can not only enhance the greenhouse effect, but also harm green spaces when its concentration near the Earth is very high. Main sources of ozone:
- industrial emissions
- vehicle emissions
- various chemical solvents
No less dangerous
Freon, hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons and water vapor are also considered dangerous gases, largely because all of them, with the exception of water vapor, are artificial substances. They are included in the mandatory calculation of greenhouse gases, which allows assessing the annual damage caused by enterprises.
- Freons include a number of substances, and, despite the fact that their volume is less than CO 2, the effect can be 1300-8500 times higher! They enter the atmosphere through the use of aerosols and refrigeration units.
- Perfluorocarbons are side effect production of aluminum, electrical equipment and solvents.
- Sulfur hexafluoride is used in the field of fire extinguishing, as well as in industry (electronics and metallurgy). This greenhouse gas does not decay in the atmosphere for a long time, which makes it especially dangerous. As in the case of freons, these two substances have the strongest greenhouse activity.
- Water vapor occupies a special place among greenhouse gases. Although their formation refers to exclusively natural processes, they account for a significant percentage of the influence on development greenhouse effect. Using his example, one can appreciate the full scale of the problem: the concentration of greenhouse gases leads to an increase in temperature on the planet, which in turn increases the volume of water vapor, which enhances the greenhouse effect. It turns out scary closed system, a way out of which must be sought as soon as possible, before changes on Earth become irreversible.
Solution
The greenhouse effect will lead to numerous unpleasant consequences, which will affect literally all living things. Naturally, these global changes will have a profound impact on human life:
- Rising temperatures will increase humidity in humid areas, while dry areas will be left in an even worse situation.
- Rising sea levels will cause flooding of coastal areas and island states.
- About 40% of animal and plant species will disappear from the face of the Earth due to changes in living conditions.
- Agriculture will also suffer a serious blow, leading to world hunger.
- and rising temperatures will lead to the drying up of underground sources and, as a consequence, to a shortage of drinking water.
Stopping the harmful effects of greenhouse gases is necessary in the coming decades, otherwise the consequences will become irreversible. At the state level, the main actions are related to the establishment of uniform standards for quality and volumes of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, all enterprises and organizations are obliged to regularly assess the damage caused environment their activities by calculating emissions. Its standard formula includes calculations related to determining the volume of each greenhouse gas and its subsequent recalculation into equivalent carbon dioxide.
States are required to actively promote technological improvement of production, which will lead to a reduction in the level of harmful gases. Severe penalties should be imposed on organizations that do not comply with environmental regulations, while strong support and incentives should be given to businesses that strive to operate under new environmental standards.
Fight against transport emissions, active development types of agriculture that do not harm the environment, as well as the search and development of new safe energy sources - all these measures will lead to a reduction in the level and consequences of GHGs.
Consequence
The modern age marked high technology, developed production methods and colossal discoveries, is also marked by the fact that issues of restoring the ecological state of the planet are becoming increasingly relevant. Environmental problems are solved not only on the initiative of activists, but also at the state level. Programs are being developed aimed at stabilizing the ecological balance in individual regions and countries.
Greenhouse gases are a natural result of the planet's development. But human activity, careless in relation to nature, has led to a serious imbalance of these substances in the atmosphere. The result was the greenhouse effect - one of the main environmental problems modernity. Large-scale actions are being taken at the global level to combat it.
It is important to understand that your contribution is most simple actions all people can contribute: reasonable use of vehicles, water and electricity, support for energy-saving technologies and cleanliness of the territory - all this reduces Negative influence gases Each person's responsibility towards the environment is becoming small, but important step to save our planet.
Greenhouse gases
The main greenhouse gas is water vapor (H 2 O), which is responsible for approximately two-thirds of the natural greenhouse effect. Other major greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated greenhouse gases. These gases are regulated by the Kyoto Protocol.
CFCs and HCFCs are also greenhouse gases, but are regulated by the Montreal rather than the Kyoto Protocol.
Stratospheric ozone is itself a greenhouse gas. Thus, ozone depletion has served to mitigate some aspects of climate change, while restoration of the ozone layer will add to climate change.
Carbon dioxide
The main participant in the enhancement of the (artificial) greenhouse effect is carbon dioxide (CO 2). In industrialized countries, CO 2 represents more than 80% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently, the world emits more than 25 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. CO 2 /sub> can remain in the atmosphere from 50 to 200 years, depending on how it is returned to the earth and oceans.
Methane
The second most important greenhouse gas for enhancing the greenhouse effect is methane CH4. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric methane concentrations have doubled and contribute 20% of the contribution to the greenhouse gas effect. In industrialized countries, methane typically accounts for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Anthropogenic methane emissions are associated with mining, fossil fuel burning, livestock farming, rice cultivation and landfills.
The GWP of methane is 23 times greater than that of CO 2 .
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is naturally released from oceans and rainforests and by bacteria in soils. Sources of human influence include nitrogenous fertilizers, combustion of fossil fuels and industrial production chemicals that use nitrogen, such as wastewater treatment.
In industrialized countries, N2O is responsible for approximately 6% of greenhouse gas emissions. Like CO 2 and methane, nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas whose molecules absorb heat that tries to evaporate into space. N 2 O has 310 times greater potential than CO 2 .
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide have increased by 16% and contribute 4 to 6% to the greenhouse effect.
Fluorinated greenhouse gases
The final group of greenhouse gases includes fluorinated constituents such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are used as refrigerants and blowing agents; perfluorinated carbons (PFCs), which are released during aluminum production; and sulfur hexafluorides (SGF-SF 6), which are used in the electronics industry.
These are the only greenhouse gases that are not produced in nature.
Atmospheric concentrations are small, accounting for about 1.5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of industrialized countries. However, they are extremely powerful; they have 1000-4000 times more potential than CO 2, and some have more than 22,000 times more potential.
HFCs are one of the alternatives to HCFCs in refrigeration, air conditioning and foaming. The consequences of these powerful greenhouse capabilities are therefore one factor that must be taken into account when selecting alternatives and developing elimination strategies.
The Soviet climatologist and meteorologist Mikhail Ivanovich Budyko, back in 1962, was the first to publish ideas that the burning of a huge amount of various fuels by humanity, which especially increased in the second half of the 20th century, will inevitably lead to an increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And it, as is known, delays the release of solar and deep heat from the Earth’s surface into space, which leads to the effect that we observe in glass greenhouses. As a result of this greenhouse effect, the average temperature of the surface layer of the atmosphere should gradually increase. The conclusions of M. I. Budyko interested American meteorologists. They checked his calculations, made numerous observations themselves, and by the end of the sixties they came to the firm conviction that the greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere exists and is growing.
The main greenhouse gases, in order of their estimated impact on the Earth's heat balance, are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone, and nitrous oxide.
Rice. 3. Structure of greenhouse gas emissions by countries
Water vapor is the most important natural greenhouse gas and makes a significant contribution to the greenhouse effect with a strong positive feedback. An increase in air temperature causes an increase in the moisture content of the atmosphere while maintaining relative humidity, which causes an increase in the greenhouse effect and thereby contributes to a further increase in air temperature. The influence of water vapor can also manifest itself through increased cloudiness and changes in precipitation. Economic activity Humans contribute less than 1% to water vapor emissions.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) . In addition to water vapor, carbon dioxide plays the most important role in creating the greenhouse effect. The planetary carbon cycle is a complex system; its functioning at different characteristic times is determined by various processes that correspond to different speeds CO2 cycle. Carbon dioxide, like nitrogen and water vapor, entered and continues to enter the atmosphere from the deep layers of the planet during degassing of the upper mantle and the earth's crust. These components of atmospheric air are among the gases released into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions, released from deep cracks in earth's crust and from hot springs.
Rice. 4. Structure of carbon dioxide emissions by region of the planet in the 1990s
Methane (CH4). Methane is greenhouse gas. If the degree of impact of carbon dioxide on climate is conventionally taken as one, then the greenhouse activity of methane will be 23 units. Methane levels in the atmosphere have increased very rapidly over the past two centuries. Now the average content of methane CH 4 in the modern atmosphere is estimated as 1.8 ppm ( parts per million, parts per million). Its contribution to the dissipation and retention of heat emitted by the sun-heated Earth is significantly higher than that from CO 2. In addition, methane absorbs the Earth's radiation in those “windows” of the spectrum that are transparent to other greenhouse gases. Without greenhouse gases - CO 2, water vapor, methane and some other impurities, the average temperature on the Earth's surface would be only –23°C, but now it is about +15°C. Methane seeps out at the bottom of the ocean through cracks in the earth's crust and is released in considerable quantities during mining and when forests are burned. Recently, a new, completely unexpected source of methane was discovered - higher plants, but the mechanisms of formation and significance this process for the plants themselves have not yet been clarified.
Nitric oxide (N2O) is the third most important greenhouse gas under the Kyoto Protocol. Released during production and use mineral fertilizers, in the chemical industry, in agriculture, etc. It accounts for about 6% of global warming.
Tropospheric ozone, i Being a greenhouse gas, tropospheric ozone (trop. O 3) has both a direct effect on climate through the absorption of long-wave radiation from the Earth and short-wave radiation from the Sun, and through chemical reactions, which change the concentrations of other greenhouse gases, for example, methane (trop. O 3 is necessary for the formation of an important oxidizer of greenhouse gases - the radical - OH). Increasing concentration of trails. Since the mid-18th century, O 3 has been the third largest positive radiative impact on the Earth's atmosphere after CO 2 and CH 4 . In general, the content of the trails. O 3 in the troposphere is determined by the processes of its formation and destruction during chemical reactions involving ozone precursors, which have both natural and anthropogenic origin, as well as the processes of ozone transfer from the stratosphere (where its content is much higher) and the absorption of ozone by the earth's surface. Lifetime of the trail. O 3 - up to several months, which is significantly less than other greenhouse gases (CO 2, CH 4, N 2 O). Concentration of trails. O3 varies significantly over time, space and altitude, and its monitoring is much more difficult than monitoring well-mixed greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Scientists have made a clear conclusion that atmospheric emissions caused by human activity lead to a significant increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Based on calculations using computer models, it was shown that if the current rate of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere continues, then in just 30 years the temperature on average around the globe will increase by approximately 1°. This is an unusually large increase in temperature based on paleoclimate data. It should be noted that expert estimates are apparently somewhat underestimated. Warming is likely to increase as a result of a number of natural processes. Warming greater than predicted may be due to the inability of a warming ocean to absorb the estimated amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The results of numerical modeling also show that the average global temperature in the next century will increase at a rate of 0.3°C per 10 years. As a result, by 2050 it may increase (compared to pre-industrial times) by 2°C, and by 2100 - by 4°C. Global warming should be accompanied by increased precipitation (by several percent by 2030), as well as a rise in sea levels (by 2030 by 20 cm, and by the end of the century by 65 cm).
Greenhouse gases
Greenhouse gases are gases that are believed to cause the global greenhouse effect.
The main greenhouse gases, in order of their estimated impact on the Earth's thermal balance, are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, halocarbons and nitrous oxide.
water vapor
Water vapor is the main natural greenhouse gas, responsible for more than 60% of the effect. Direct anthropogenic impact on this source is insignificant. At the same time, an increase in the Earth's temperature caused by other factors increases evaporation and the total concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere at almost constant relative humidity, which in turn increases the greenhouse effect. Thus, some positive feedback occurs.
Methane
A gigantic eruption of methane accumulated under the seabed 55 million years ago warmed the Earth by 7 degrees Celsius.
The same thing can happen now - this assumption was confirmed by researchers from NASA. Using computer simulations of ancient climates, they tried to better understand the role of methane in climate change. Currently, most research on the greenhouse effect focuses on the role of carbon dioxide in this effect, although the potential of methane to retain heat in the atmosphere is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
Varied Appliances, operating on gas, contribute to the increase in methane content in the atmosphere
Over the past 200 years, methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled due to decomposition of organic matter in swamps and wet lowlands, as well as leaks from man-made objects such as gas pipelines, coal mines, increased irrigation and off-gassing from livestock. But there is another source of methane - decaying organic matter in ocean sediments, preserved frozen under the seabed.
Usually low temperatures And high pressure keep methane under the ocean in a stable state, but this was not always the case. During periods of global warming, such as the late Paleocene thermal maximum, which occurred 55 million years ago and lasted 100 thousand years, movement lithospheric plates, in particular the Indian subcontinent, led to a drop in pressure on the seabed and could cause a large release of methane. As the atmosphere and ocean began to warm, methane emissions could increase. Some scientists believe that current global warming could lead to the same scenario - if the ocean warms up significantly.
When methane enters the atmosphere, it reacts with oxygen and hydrogen molecules to create carbon dioxide and water vapor, each of which can cause the greenhouse effect. According to previous forecasts, all emitted methane will turn into carbon dioxide and water in about 10 years. If this is true, then increasing carbon dioxide concentrations will be the main cause of warming of the planet. However, attempts to confirm the reasoning with references to the past were unsuccessful - no traces of an increase in carbon dioxide concentration 55 million years ago were found.
The models used in the new study showed that when the level of methane in the atmosphere sharply increases, the content of oxygen and hydrogen reacting with methane in it decreases (until the reaction stops), and the remaining methane remains in the air for hundreds of years, itself becoming a cause of global warming. And these hundreds of years are enough to warm up the atmosphere, melt the ice in the oceans and change the entire climate system.
The main anthropogenic sources of methane are digestive fermentation in livestock, rice growing, and biomass burning (including deforestation). Recent studies have shown that a rapid increase in atmospheric methane concentrations occurred in the first millennium AD (presumably as a result of the expansion of agricultural and livestock production and forest burning). Between 1000 and 1700, methane concentrations fell by 40%, but began to rise again in recent centuries (presumably as a result of the expansion of arable land and pastures and forest burning, the use of wood for heating, increased numbers of livestock, sewage, and rice cultivation) . Some contribution to the supply of methane comes from leaks during field development coal and natural gas, as well as methane emissions from biogas generated at waste disposal sites
Carbon dioxide
Sources of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere are volcanic emissions, vital activity of organisms, and human activity. Anthropogenic sources include the combustion of fossil fuels, the burning of biomass (including deforestation), and some industrial processes (for example, cement production). The main consumers of carbon dioxide are plants. Normally, the biocenosis absorbs approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide as it produces (including through biomass decay).
The influence of carbon dioxide on the intensity of the greenhouse effect.
Much still needs to be learned about the carbon cycle and the role of the world's oceans as a vast reservoir of carbon dioxide. As mentioned above, every year humanity adds 7 billion tons of carbon in the form of CO 2 to the existing 750 billion tons. But only about half of our emissions - 3 billion tons - remain in the air. This can be explained by the fact that most CO 2 is used by terrestrial and marine plants, buried in marine sediments, absorbed by seawater, or otherwise absorbed. Of this large portion of CO 2 (about 4 billion tons), the ocean absorbs about two billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide each year.
All this increases the number of unanswered questions: How exactly? sea water interacts with atmospheric air, absorbing CO 2? How much more carbon can the seas absorb, and what level of global warming might affect their capacity? What is the capacity of the oceans to absorb and store heat trapped by climate change?
The role of clouds and suspended particles in air currents called aerosols is not easy to take into account when building a climate model. Clouds shade the earth's surface, leading to cooling, but depending on their height, density and other conditions, they can also trap heat reflected from earth's surface, increasing the intensity of the greenhouse effect. The effect of aerosols is also interesting. Some of them modify water vapor, condensing it into small droplets that form clouds. These clouds are very dense and obscure the Earth's surface for weeks. That is, they block sunlight until they fall with precipitation.
The combined effect can be enormous: the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatuba in the Philippines released a colossal volume of sulfates into the stratosphere, causing a worldwide drop in temperature that lasted two years.
Thus, our own pollution, mainly caused by burning sulfur-containing coal and oils, may temporarily offset the effects of global warming. Experts estimate that aerosols reduced the amount of warming by 20% during the 20th century. In general, temperatures have been rising since the 1940s, but have fallen since 1970. The aerosol effect may help explain the anomalous cooling in the middle of the last century.
In 2006, carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere amounted to 24 billion tons. A very active group of researchers argues against the idea that human activity is one of the causes of global warming. In her opinion, the main thing is the natural processes of climate change and increased solar activity. But, according to Klaus Hasselmann, head of the German Climatological Center in Hamburg, only 5% can be explained by natural causes, and the remaining 95% is a man-made factor caused by human activity.
Some scientists also do not connect the increase in CO 2 with an increase in temperature. Skeptics say that if rising temperatures are to be blamed on rising CO 2 emissions, then temperatures must have risen during the post-war economic boom, when fossil fuels were burned in huge quantities. However, Jerry Mallman, director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, calculated that increased use of coal and oils rapidly increased the sulfur content in the atmosphere, causing cooling. After 1970, the thermal effect of long life cycle CO 2 and methane suppressed rapidly decaying aerosols, causing temperatures to rise. Thus, we can conclude that the influence of carbon dioxide on the intensity of the greenhouse effect is enormous and undeniable.
However, the increasing greenhouse effect may not be catastrophic. Indeed, high temperatures may be welcomed where they are quite rare. Since 1900, the greatest warming has been observed from 40 to 70 0 northern latitude, including Russia, Europe, and the northern part of the United States, where industrial emissions of greenhouse gases began earliest. Most of warming occurs at night, primarily due to increased cloud cover, which traps outgoing heat. As a result, the sowing season was extended by a week.
Moreover, the greenhouse effect may be good news for some farmers. High concentrations of CO 2 can have a positive effect on plants because plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, converting it into living tissue. Hence, more plants means more absorption of CO 2 from the atmosphere, slowing global warming.
This phenomenon was studied by American specialists. They decided to create a model of the world with double the amount of CO 2 in the air. To do this, they used fourteen-year-old pine forest in Northern California. Gas was pumped through pipes installed among the trees. Photosynthesis increased by 50-60%. But the effect soon became the opposite. The suffocating trees could not cope with such volumes of carbon dioxide. The advantage in the process of photosynthesis was lost. This is another example of how human manipulation leads to unexpected results.
But these small positive aspects of the greenhouse effect cannot be compared with the negative ones. Take, for example, the experience with a pine forest, where the volume of CO 2 was doubled, and by the end of this century the concentration of CO 2 is predicted to quadruple. One can imagine how catastrophic the consequences could be for plants. And this, in turn, will increase the volume of CO 2, since what fewer plants, the greater the concentration of CO 2.
Consequences of the greenhouse effect
greenhouse effect gases climate
As temperatures rise, the evaporation of water from oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. will increase. Since warmer air can hold more water vapor, this creates a powerful feedback effect: the warmer it gets, the higher the water vapor content in the air, which in turn increases the greenhouse effect.
Human activity has little effect on the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. But we emit other greenhouse gases, which makes the greenhouse effect more and more intense. Scientists believe that increasing CO 2 emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels, explain at least about 60% of the Earth's warming since 1850. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing by about 0.3% per year, and is now about 30% higher than before the industrial revolution. If we express this in absolute terms, then every year humanity adds approximately 7 billion tons. Despite the fact that this is a small part in relation to the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - 750 billion tons, and even smaller compared to the amount of CO 2 contained in the World Ocean - approximately 35 trillion tons, it remains very significant. Reason: natural processes are in equilibrium, such a volume of CO 2 enters the atmosphere, which is removed from there. And human activity only adds CO 2.
Greenhouse gases absorb the sun's reflected energy, making the Earth's atmosphere warmer. Most of solar energy reaches the surface of the planet, and some is reflected back into space. Some gases present in the atmosphere absorb the reflected energy and redirect it back to Earth as heat. The gases responsible for this are called greenhouse gases because they play the same role as the clear plastic or glass covering the greenhouse.
Greenhouse gases and human activities
Some greenhouse gases are released naturally as a result of volcanic activity and biological processes. However, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th century, humans have released increasing amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This increase accelerated with the development of the petrochemical industry.
Greenhouse effect
Heat reflected from greenhouse gases produces measurable warming of the Earth's surface and oceans. This has widespread impacts on ice, oceans, and...
The main greenhouse gases of the Earth:
water vapor
Water vapor is the most powerful and important of the Earth's greenhouse gases. The amount of water vapor in cannot be directly changed by human activity - it is determined by air temperature. The warmer it is, the higher the rate of water evaporation from the surface. As a result, increased evaporation results in a greater concentration of water vapor in the lower atmosphere capable of absorbing infrared radiation and reflect it down.
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas. It is released into the atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil fuels, volcanic eruptions, decomposition organic matter and movement Vehicle. The cement production process releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. Plowing the land also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide normally stored in the soil.
Plant life, which absorbs CO2 into , is an important natural store of carbon dioxide. can also absorb CO2 dissolved in water.
Methane
Methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. It is more potent than CO2, but is present in much lower concentrations in the atmosphere. CH4 can remain in the atmosphere for a shorter time than CO2 (CH4 has a residence time of approximately 10 years, compared to hundreds of years for CO2). Natural sources of methane include: wetlands; biomass combustion; vital processes of large cattle; rice cultivation; extraction, combustion and processing of oil or natural gas, etc. The main natural absorber of methane is the atmosphere itself; another is soil where methane is oxidized by bacteria.
As with CO2, human activity increases CH4 concentrations faster than methane is absorbed naturally.
Tropospheric ozone
Minor greenhouse gases
Minor greenhouse gases are nitrogen oxides and freons. They are potentially dangerous for. However, due to the fact that their concentrations are not as significant as the above-mentioned gases, the assessment of their impact on climate has not been fully studied.
Nitrogen oxides
Nitrogen oxides are found in the atmosphere due to natural biological reactions in soil and water. Nevertheless a large number of Nitric oxide emissions contribute significantly to global warming. The main source is the production and use of synthetic fertilizers in agricultural activities. Motor vehicles emit nitrogen oxides when running on fossil fuels such as gasoline or diesel.
Freons
Freons are a group of hydrocarbons with various types use and characteristics. Chlorofluorocarbons are widely used as refrigerants (in air conditioners and refrigerators), foaming agents, solvents, etc. Their production has already been banned in most countries, but they are still present in the atmosphere and cause damage to the ozone layer. Hydrofluorocarbons serve as an alternative to more harmful ozone-depleting substances, and make a much smaller contribution to global climate change on the planet.
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