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Greenhouse effects

• The heating up of earth’s atmosphere due

to trapped infrared rays reflected from the
earth surface by atmospheric gases is
called Greenhouse effect.

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Properties of greenhouse

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Factors contributing to greenhouse effects
Industrialization

• The industries release toxic gases, chemicals and effluents

in huge quantities into the environment. The industrial
wastes produce many harmful effects and ultimately disturb
the ecosystems. The toxic gases and effluents released into
the environment cause pollution of air, water and soil.

Deforestation
• Deforestation is mainly due to increase in population,
industrialization, urbanization and increase of agricultural
activities. Deforestation leads to soil erosion, wasteland
development and extinction of certain species from the flora
and fauna.
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 Greenhouse gases
• The earth is surrounded by a cover of gases as atmosphere.
• This atmosphere allows most of the light to pass through,
which reaches the surface of earth.
• This light from sun is absorbed by the earth surface and
converts into heat energy.
• This heat energy is re-emitted by the surface of the earth
during night.
• Due to excessive presence of some gasses in the
atmosphere, this escape of heat from earth surface is
prevented, resulting in heating of earth called ‘global
warming’.
• The gasses which are responsible for causing global
warming are called ‘greenhouse gasses’.
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Atmospheric Window
 Contribution to natural
greenhouse gas effect
Greenhouse gas Concentration
temperature increase
(value and %)

Water vapor (H2O) 1-4 % 20.6 oC 62 %

Carbon dioxide (CO2) 280 ppm 7.2 oC 22 %
Ozone, troposphere (O3) 0.03 ppm 2.4 oC 7%
Nitrous oxide (N2O) 0.31 ppm 1.4 oC 4%
Methane (CH4) 1.72 ppm 0.8 oC 2.5 %
others 0.6 oC 2.5 %

Due to greenhouse effect:

Total temperature rise= 33 0C
Temperature of the earth = 33+(-18)= 15 0C
 Greenhouse gases
• The gases responsible for raising the temperature of
the earth and its atmosphere are referred to as
greenhouse gases.

• The different greenhouse gases and their percent

ratios are as follows –
Name of gases Percent
• Carbon dioxide 59
• Methane 19
• Chlorofluoro carbons (CFCs) 15
• Nitrogen oxides (N2O and NO) 6
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 Sources discharging Greenhouse gases

Gas Sources of discharge % of discharge

Carbon dioxide Burning of fossil fuels 81
Destruction of forests 17
Cement plants 2
100
Methane Rice cultivation 30
Domestic animals 20
Burning of vegetation 17
Landfills 11
Coal mines 9
Natural gases 13
100
Nitrogen oxides Burning of fossil fuels 43
Use of fertilizers 25
Burning of vegetation 25
Cultivated land 7
100
Chlorofluoro-carbons Industrial activities 100
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 Consequences of greenhouse effects
• Global warming
• Increase in natural calamities
• Mean sea level rise
• Ozone layer depletion
• Increase in mean precipitation
• Acid rain
• Desertification/summer continent dryness in
mid latitude
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• Increase pests, diseases and insect
population
• Reduction of natural regeneration

• Disruption of plant biomass growth

• Changes of regional vegetation

• Affects normal physiological process of

vegetation and hence morphophysiological
and phylogenetic attributes of growth
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• Potential effects on forest changes in
composition such as Boreal, temperate,
tropical and subtropical forest

• Death of zooplankton and the disturbance of

aquatic system

• Disruption of agricultural activities

• Human health hazards such as skin cancer,

eye defect, mental effect, physiological
disorder etc.
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 Global warming

• The consequent increase in the global

mean temperature due to greenhouse
effect is referred as global warming

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 Causes of global warming

• Deforestration
• Industrialization
• Energy production from fossil fuels, such
as -
• - Diesel
• - Petroleum
• - Coal
• Urbanization
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 Effect of Global warming
• The adverse effects of global warming are
enormous.
• The effects are already being felt on our planet, on
human life, plants and animals worldwide.
• Rising sea levels, glacier retreat, arctic shrinkage,
and altered patterns of agriculture are cited as direct
consequences.
• weather events, expansion of tropical diseases,
changes in the timing of seasonal patterns in
ecosystems, and drastic economic impact are
predicted.

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 Effect of Global warming
• Global mean surface warming
• Global increase of mean precipitation
• Melting of glaciers, snow mountains and polar
ice caps
• Flooding of low lying coastal areas
• Global mean sea level rising

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 Effect of Global warming

• Increase of salinity intrusion

• Increase in the flow of rivers and change in
rainfall patterns
• Occurrence of more cyclones and hurricanes
• Damage of agricultural crops
• Distribution and phenology of species

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Wildfires in USA

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Types of cyclone hits in
Bangladesh

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 Control measures of greenhouse effects

• Reduction of greenhouse gas emission.

• Massive afforestation and reforestation
programs should be conducted i.e. increasing
forest population.

• Deforestation should be stopped or at least

minimized.

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• Sustainable management and rational use of
natural resources.
• Shifting from fossil fuels to renewable sources
such as wind, tide and waves and solar
energy should be used.
• Minimum use of N fertilizers in agriculture

• Develop substitutes for chlorofluorocarbon

(CFCs)
• Use of green/recyclable energy
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Plantation of trees at large scale

• In the photosynthetic process green plants

use CO2 to prepare their food material and
release O2 as a by-product.
• Therefore, planting trees on waste land and
replanting of new trees in place of destroyed
trees are most important.

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Increasing diffusing capacity of oceans
for CO2
Ocean plays a significant role in reduction of
CO2.
• Carbon dioxide is continuously dissolving in
the oceans which is stabilized in the form of
carbonate rocks at the bottom of sea.
• According to an estimation half of the CO2
evolved is absorbed by the seas and their
phytoplankton (free-floating plants).
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Atmosphere-
ocean CO2
exchange.

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Watson et al. (2020)
 Remedies of greenhouse effects
• In automobiles, using catalytic converter could
reduce 70-80% CO2

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 Remedies of greenhouse effects
• Production of methane must be reduced

• Develop such varieties of rice which produce

less methane

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Methane production in rice field

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 Remedies of greenhouse effects
• Emphasis should be given to the substitutes of
CFC, aerosol propellant and other life items
endangering to environment.
• Industrial pollution should be checked.
• Above all, public awareness should be increased in
all concerns about environmental degradation and
pollution growth should be slow down or at least
minimized.

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