MODULE 4: GREENHOUSE GASES AND GLOBAL WARMING
(air, water, land)
NATURE OF SOLAR ENERGY
 Solar energy comes from the earth as PHOTONS (particles of
light energy) of electromagnetic waves.
 Short to long wavelengths
 Spectrum ranges from gamma rays to radio waves
 The shorter the wavelengths, the higher its energy level
 Radiation of high levels kill many organisms
 Ultra-violet, x-rays and gamma rays are radiations of every
short electromagnetic waves
 Infrared and visible lights have lower energies
 Solar energy is approximately 4% UV, 44% visible light, 52%
infrared and long waves
 The higher energy wavelengths are screened out by OXYGEN
and OZONE in the upper atmosphere
 Infrared radiation is screened out by WATER and CARBON
DIOXIDE
 The light in the earth are represented by visible light with
wavelengths ranging from 0.40-0.70 micrometer (μm)
 Photo synthetically active radiation (PhAR) range from red
(0.64-0.70 μm) and the blue (0.44-0.59 μm)
 In vacuum, different wavelengths travel at the same speed of
300,000 km/sec
THE SUN AND THE SUN RAYS
 Sun radiates about 100,000 cal/cm /min of energy at distance
2 wavelengths and reradiate part of them towards the earth
is 149.7 M km
 Incoming solar energy at the top of the earth’s atmosphere
averages about 2.0 cal/cm2/min
 Radiation either absorbed, transmitted or reflected by the
earth’s surface
 Most of the radiation received by earth’s surface are visible
light, infrared radiation and a small amount of UV radiation
 About 26% reflected back by the atmosphere and 6% from
water, soil, air, vegetation
 Unaltered light not allowed to enter the surface due to its
reflectivity
 The 68% are absorbed by the atmosphere and earth’s surface
 Heat the atmosphere and surface, evaporate and cycle the
water and generate winds
 Small fraction (1-2%) is captured by green plants and other
autotrophic organisms and convert to chemical energy through
photosynthesis
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
 All energy absorbed by the earth surface will eventually be
reradiated and re-emitted back to the space; otherwise the
earth will overheat
 All incoming energy must be balanced by the outgoing
energy-however, there is a change in properties
 Most of the solar energy reaching the earth is visible light to
which the atmosphere is transparent, while the re-emitted
energy is most infrared radiation
 The earth’s atmosphere contains heat-absorbing gasses like
water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and
ozone
 These serve as atmospheric thermal blanket that regulates
the thermal exchanges between the earth-atmospheric
system
 Without the thermal blanketing of the natural greenhouse
effect, Earth’s climate would be about 33 oC (about 590F)
cooler-too cold for most living organisms to survive
 Greenhouse gases and water vapor absorb some infrared
 The absorption of the outbound long wave radiation by the
atmospheric and its emission back toward the earth
GREENHOUSE EFFECT- The absorption of the outbound long wave
radiation by the atmosphere and its emission back toward earth
THE ATMOSPHERE- thin layer of gases that surrounds the Earth
 The atmosphere contains four separate layers with differences
in temperature, density, and composition
  Commence at an attitude of 8 to 16 km and extending upward
to about 50 km
 The atmosphere consists of permanent gases, such  Similar composition with troposphere except for water (lower
as; 1000X) and ozone (1000X higher)
 78.1% nitrogen  Temperature remains nearly constant, but in the upper portion
 21% oxygen the temperature increases rapidly with height because of
 0.93% argon absorption of sunlight by ozone
 The stratosphere is almost completely free of clouds or other
 Trace amounts of variable gases that enter and leave forms of weather
the atmosphere in small amounts:
 Water vapor
 Carbon dioxide  Stable air temperature
 Methane  Low water concentration
 Nitrous oxide  Calm region of the atmosphere, with little air mixing
 Ozone  High ozone concentration
 CFC’s
OZONE LAYER
LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE
 Ozone layer is found in the stratosphere
TROPOSPHERE  A region of the atmosphere from 19 to 48 km above Earth’s
Surface
 Lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere and site of all weather  Ozone concentrations of up to 10 parts per million occur in this
on the earth Layer
 Bounded on the top by a layer of air called the tropopause,
which separates the troposphere from stratosphere IMPORTANCE OF OZONE LAYER
 Temperature decreases with increasing height at an average
of 6.5oC per 1,000 m, reaching -80oC above tropical regions  Protects life on Earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation
and about -50oC above the polar regions from the Sun
 It contains 75% of the atmosphere mass-on an average day  Short wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation are damaging to the
the weight of the molecules in air is 1.03 kg/sq cm-and most of cell structure of living organisms
the atmosphere’s water vapor  Fortunately, the ozone layer absorbs almost all of the short
 Water vapor concentration varies from trace amounts in polar wavelength ultraviolet radiation and much of the long
regions to nearly 4 percent in the tropics wavelength ultraviolet radiation given off by the Sun
 The most prevalent gases are nitrogen (78%) and oxygen
(20.6%) with argon (0.9 percent) and traces of hydrogen, OZONE LAYER HOLE
ozone, methane, and other constituents
 Zone strongly stirred by wind; Layer that directly affects life on  Ozone is a gas that blocks harmful ultraviolet sunlight.
earth Industrial chemicals released into the atmosphere have cause
ozone to break down, opening holes in the ozone layer that
STRATOSPHERE tend to concentrate at the poles.
MESOSPHERE
 Above the ozone-rich stratosphere lies the mesosphere,
where air temperature, again, decreases with height
 The mesosphere is the coldest layer of the atmosphere which
could go down as far as -80oC and extends from an altitude of
about 50 km to about 85 km
 Temperature decreases as altitude increases
 Gases in this layer absorb very little UV radiation
THERMOSPHERE
 Above the mesosphere lies the hot thermosphere, where air
temperatures can exceed 1000oC, primarily due to oxygen
absorbing the sun’s energetic rays
 Compose of highly ionized gases extending up to 1600 km
 Temperature in this layer is very high because molecules are
constantly bombarded by high energy solar and cosmic
radiation
 Temperature increase as altitude increases
IONOSPHERE
 The ionosphere is a very active part of the atmosphere, and it
grows and shrinks depending on the energy it absorbs from
the Sun
 The name ionosphere comes from the fact that gases in these
layers are excited by solar radiation from ions, which have
electrical charge
EXOSPHERE
 The exosphere is the outermost layer of earth’s atmosphere
 Layer where atoms and molecules “escape or exit” into space
 The exosphere has gases like hydrogen and helium, but they
are very spread out. There is a lot of empty space in between.
There is no air to breathe, and it’s very cold
THE GREENHOUSE GASES (GHGs)
WATER VAPOR
 Most common gas in the atmosphere, accounts 60 to 70
percent of the natural greenhouse effect; as the concentration
of other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (producing
warmer temperatures on Earth) increases, evaporation
increases and raises the amount of water vapor in the
atmosphere
CARBON DIOXIDE
 Carbon dioxide constantly circulates in the environment
through a variety of natural processes known as the carbon
cycle
 Sources of additional CO2 in the atmosphere:
 Burning of fossil fuel (coal, oil, natural gas, etc.)
 Deforestation or cutting/burning of forest trees
 CO2 is steadily increasing at the rate of about 1 ppm/yr
 Deforestation also contributes to global warming
 Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place,
which help create the optimal balance of gases in the
atmosphere
 As more fuels are logged for timber or cut down to make way
for farming, the lesser CO2 to O2 transformation occurs
METHANE
 1 molecule CH4=25 molecules of CO2 in its warming effect
 Decomposition of carbon-containing substances found in
oxygen free environments release methane
 Ruminating animals belch methane into the air
 Anaerobic bacteria in rice fields, produce methane when they
break down organic matter
 Emitted during coal mining and production of fossil fuels
NITROUS OXIDE (N2O)  54% came from the energy sector, 30% from agriculture, 8%
from industrial processes, 7% from wastes and 1% from land-
 Released by the burning of fossil fuels, and automobile use change and forestry sectors
exhaust is a large source of this gas
 Use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers to provide nutrients to
their crops, emit nitrous oxide into the air
 Plowing fields also releases nitrous oxide GLOBAL WARMING

OZONE (O3)
 Natural and human-made greenhouse gas
 Ozone in the upper atmosphere is known as the ozone layer
and shields life from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation
 Ozone in the lower atmosphere is a component of smog and is
considered a greenhouse gas
 Unlike other greenhouse gases, which are well-mixed
throughout the atmosphere, ozone in the lower atmosphere
tends to be limited to industrialized regions
 As these gases build up in the atmosphere, they tarp more
heat near Earth’s surface causing Earth’s climate to become
warmer than it would naturally
 Ocean temperatures rise and some water enters the
atmosphere and the earth’s surface temperature increases
 Scientists call this unnatural heating effect global warming and
blame it for an increase in Earth’s surface temperature of
about 0.6oC (about 1oF) over the last 100 years

FLUORINATED COMPOUNDS (CFCs, HCFs, and PCFCs)

 Nontoxic and safe to use in most applications, CFCs are

harmless in the lower atmosphere
 However, in the upper atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation breaks
down CFCs, releasing chlorine into the atmosphere
 Higher concentrations of chlorine destroy ozone layer in the
upper atmosphere
 These synthetic compounds are more effective than carbon
dioxide in trapping heat
 1 molecule of CFC=10,000 molecules of CO 2 in its warming
effect
 CFCs account for 15% of the greenhouse effect
 Aerosol sprays , blowing agents for foams and packing
materials, solvents, and refrigerators

GREENHOUSE GASSES (GHSs) EMISSION IN THE PHILIPPINES

 The Philippines total GHG emissions in 2012 were 157,6

millionmetric tons of carbon diozide equivalent (Mt CO 2 eq),
totaling 0.33% of global GHG emissions