Related topics: climate change , carbon dioxide , global warming , greenhouse gas emissions , fossil fuels
Greenhouse gas
hideGreenhouse 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.
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News tagged with greenhouse gas
Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate
Nov 21, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online - stoking debate over whether some scientists have ...
Researchers engineer bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel
Dec 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The genetically modified cyanobacterium consumes carbon dioxide and produces the liquid fuel isobutanol by using energy from sunlight.
Antarctic ice loss vaster, faster than thought: study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 22, 2009 |
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The East Antarctic icesheet, once seen as largely unaffected by global warming, has lost billions of tonnes of ice since 2006 and could boost sea levels in the future, according to a new study.
Science not faked, but not pretty
Dec 12, 2009 |
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(AP) -- E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data - but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an ...
Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(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 ...
Study: Earth's polar ice sheets vulnerable to even moderate global warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 16, 2009 |
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A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approa ...
Scientist: Leak of climate e-mails appalling
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's ...
Computer simulation strengthens link between climate change and release of subsea methane
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
20 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A first-of-its-kind computer simulation that mirrors real-world observations of methane bubbling up from a seabed in the Arctic Ocean provides further evidence that warming oceans may unleash ...
INL develops safer, more efficient nuclear fuel for next-gen reactors
Nov 30, 2009 |
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As the nation ponders its energy choices, Americans keep asking themselves: how can the country make better use of its resources and emit fewer greenhouse gases without hurting U.S. industries? A research ...
A greener way to get electricity from natural gas
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of natural-gas electric power plant proposed by MIT researchers could provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, at costs comparable to or less than ...
From Greenhouse to Icehouse
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2009 |
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A new study that reconstructed ocean temperatures from millions of years ago could provide new insight into how the Earth responds to climate change.
Half of Britons deny climate change man-made: poll
Dec 06, 2009 |
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Almost half of Britons do not believe human behaviour is the main cause of global warming, a new poll showed Sunday, a day before world leaders begin crunch climate talks in Copenhagen.
Leaked document stirs anger at climate summit
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A leaked Danish document at the U.N. climate conference provoked angry criticism Tuesday from developing countries who feared it would shift more of the burden to curb greenhouse gases on poorer countries.
UN: Fight climate change with free condoms
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(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.
UN talks: Rich nations must make big emission cuts
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Wealthy nations would commit to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, and the world should strive to nearly eliminate them - or at least cut them in half - by 2050 under ...
