Related topics: climate change
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 gases
Study shows strong evidence that cloud changes may exacerbate global warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 23, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (56) |
15
The role of clouds in climate change has been a major question for decades. As the earth warms under increasing greenhouse gases, it is not known whether clouds will dissipate, letting in more of the sun's ...
Earth's most prominent rainfall feature creeping northward
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 01, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
3
The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of ...
Racing the clock: Rapid climate change forces scientists to evaluate extreme conservation strategies
May 25, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (76) |
8
Scientists are, for the first time, objectively evaluating ways to help species adapt to rapid climate change and other environmental threats via strategies that were considered too radical for serious consideration as recently ...
The rise of oxygen caused Earth's earliest ice age
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 07, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (20) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- Geologists may have uncovered the answer to an age-old question - an ice-age-old question, that is. It appears that Earth's earliest ice ages may have been due to the rise of oxygen in Earth's ...
Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 08, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (19) |
15
(PhysOrg.com) -- Though greenhouse gases are invariably at the center of discussions about global climate change, new NASA research suggests that much of the atmospheric warming observed in the Arctic since ...
Japan launches 5th spy satellite
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
22 hours ago |
4 / 5 (5) |
1
(AP) -- Japan launched its fifth spy satellite into orbit Saturday in a bid to boost its ability to independently gather intelligence, the government said.
New method may help allocate carbon emissions responsibility among nations
Jul 06, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (16) |
8
Just months before world leaders are scheduled to meet to devise a new international treaty on climate change, a research team led by Princeton University scientists has developed a new way of dividing responsibility ...
Jatropha Helps Air New Zealand Cut Its CO2 Emissions by More Than 60%
Jun 17, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (14) |
14
Recently, Air New Zealand ran a test flight of a jet plane fueled with a biofuel blend made with jatropha. The results showed a fuel savings of 1.2%, amounting to more than a ton of fuel over the course of ...
Engineers unveil new lighting solutions
Jun 09, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (8) |
5
A study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers argues that new lighting technologies can be a key player in the portfolio of strategies needed to promote energy efficiency and to help reduce the emission of greenhouse ...
All the carbon counts
May 28, 2009 |
2 / 5 (4) |
5
Cutting down forests for agriculture vents excess carbon dioxide into the air just as industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuels do. But whether policies to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere ...
Scientists: No link cloud coverage and global warming
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 11, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (89) |
35
With the U.S. Congress beginning to consider regulations on greenhouse gases, a troubling hypothesis about how the sun may impact global warming is finally laid to rest.
Working on the railroad? Using concrete could help environment
May 07, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
3
Wood or concrete? Railroads around the world face that decision as they replace millions of deteriorating cross ties, also known as railway sleepers, those rectangular objects used as a base for railroad tracks. ...
NYPD Goes Green
May 05, 2009 |
3 / 5 (8) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New York City has a goal to reduce its overall carbon footprint. For Manhattan, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gases 30% by 2017. As part of this effort, the New York City Police Department ...
China triples wind power capacity goal: report
May 04, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (23) |
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China has more than tripled its target for wind power capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2020, likely making it the world's fastest growing market for wind energy technology, state press said.
US wants to move on climate change
Apr 30, 2009 |
2.8 / 5 (11) |
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(AP) -- The Obama administration, in a major environmental policy shift, is leaning toward asking 195 nations that ratified the U.N. ozone treaty to enact mandatory reductions in hydrofluorocarbons, according ...
