Related topics: carbon dioxide



Greenhouse gas

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Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. Common greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. In our solar system, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause greenhouse effects. Greenhouse gases greatly affect the temperature of the Earth; without them, Earth's surface would be on average about 33°C (59°F) colder than at present.

Human activities since the start of the industrial era around 1750 have increased the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The 2007 assessment report compiled by the IPCC observed that "changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, land cover and solar radiation alter the energy balance of the climate system", and concluded that "increases in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations is very likely to have caused most of the increases in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century".

For more information about Greenhouse gas, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with greenhouse gas

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Lehigh receives grant to reduce cost of carbon capture at coal-fired power plants

Space & Earth / Environment

created 17 hours ago | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Lehigh University's Energy Research Center (ERC) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop methods of recovering and reusing the heat that would be generated by the carbon-dioxide (CO2) compressio ...


Germany calls for binding climate deal in 2010

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 2

(AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Thursday for all countries to fix binding climate change targets next year at the latest, acknowledging that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen next month.


Studying Fertilizers to Cut Greenhouse Gases

Studying Fertilizers to Cut Greenhouse Gases

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that using alternative types of fertilizers can cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, at least in one part of the country. They are ...


Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica

Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (19) | comments 26

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis ...


UN: Fight climate change with free condoms (AP)

UN: Fight climate change with free condoms

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (11) | comments 20

(AP) -- The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.


Fighting climate change by turning CO2 to stone

Fighting climate change by turning CO2 to stone

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (11) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- While politicians debate the best ways to cut global carbon dioxide emissions, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory's Center for Advanced Energy Studies are charging ahead on a strategy ...


Human emissions rise 2 percent despite GFC

Fossil fuel CO2 emissions up by 29 percent since 2000

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (18) | comments 7

The strongest evidence yet that the rise in atmospheric CO2 emissions continues to outstrip the ability of the world's natural 'sinks' to absorb carbon is published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. ...


Glimpsing a greener future

Glimpsing a greener future: Computer model foresees effects of alternative transportation fuels

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- It's the year 2060, and 75 percent of drivers in the Greater Los Angeles area have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that emit only water vapor.


Cautious conservation: How to ensure that slowing global warming will protect biodiversity

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

While it is clear that massive destruction of tropical rainforests poses a serious threat to the incredibly rich biodiversity found on Earth, other hazards are not so explicit. An international group of prominent scientists ...


Commuters wait on the platform shrouded by fog in London

Climate change not man-made, say majority of Britons: poll

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 15, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (15) | comments 42

Less than half of Britons believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to a poll carried out for The Times newspaper and published on Saturday.


Clinton: No binding climate deal at Denmark talks (AP)

Clinton: No binding climate deal at Denmark talks

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 2

(AP) -- Next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen is not likely to produce a legally binding treaty to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that are widely blamed for global warming, U.S. Secretary of ...


Record high temperatures far outpace record lows across US

Record high temperatures far outpace record lows across US (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (28) | comments 7

Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows. The ratio of record highs ...


A Tale of Planetary Woe

A Tale of Planetary Woe (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (11) | comments 5

Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed ...


Reducing greenhouse gases may not be enough to slow climate change

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (11) | comments 6

Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning Professor Brian Stone publishes a paper in the December edition of Environmental Science and Technology that suggests policymakers need to address the influence of global deforestation ...


Controversial new climate change results

Controversial new climate change results

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (47) | comments 131

(PhysOrg.com) -- New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of CO2 has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO2 having risen from about 2 billion ...