Enhanced green house

effects and Global warming

By Relebohile , Lengiwe & Tlotliso
Green house effect
• The greenhouse effect is a central component to keeping our
Earth warm. This process maintains the temperature of the
Earth such that the planet is warm enough to develop and
sustain life. Well as long as the components of the greenhouse
effect, the amount of light and energy coming from the sun as
well as the quantity of greenhouse gases that are in the
atmosphere, remain in balance.
Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They let
sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent the heat that the
sunlight brings from leaving the atmosphere. The main greenhouse gases are:
• Water vapor
• Carbon dioxide
• Methane
• Ozone
• Nitrous oxide
• Chlorofluorocarbons
 Enhanced Greenhouse gases
• Increases in the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the
Earth's atmosphere have caused an enhanced greenhouse effect.  With
emissions being produced daily, a large imbalance is being created which is
enhancing the greenhouse effect and making it stronger. As there are
naturally occurring greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that help keep the
Earth warm, additional amounts of these gases leads to more heat being
trapped on the planet. This extra heat is causing global warming as well as
affecting the Earth's weather patterns
 Summary points
• The sun emits shortwave radiation, which passes through Earth's atmosphere and is
absorbed by Earth's surface
• Some energy is re-emitted back into the atmosphere, as longwave radiation
• 'Greenhouse' gases: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, water vapour effectively
prevent some of this longwave radiation from leaving the atmosphere
• This warms Earth's atmosphere, making our planet habitable
• Human activities have led to a build up of extra greenhouse gases in the atmsophere
• As a result, average surface temperatures are rising
• Temperatures will continue to rise if greenhouse gases keep building up in the
atmosphere
 What causes enhanced green house gases
effect?
• The enhanced greenhouse effect is being caused by human activities that are
adding greenhouse gases to the Earth's atmosphere. Today greenhouse gas
levels are the highest they have been in the past 3 million years and have been
increasing since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. As there are already
greenhouse gas emissions from natural sources, additional amounts leads to
more heat being trapped on the planet. This extra heat creates an impact by
distorting weather patterns and causing climate change.
• The burning of fossil fuels (such as natural gas, coal and oil) have added large
quantities of CO2 into the planet's atmosphere. Fossil fuels are used to
produce electricity, for transportation and in industrial production.
• Farming practices, such as intensive chemical soil fertilization, have led to the
increase in CH4 and N2O levels in the air.
• Industry also produces and emits fluorinated gases such as hydro
fluorocarbons (HFCs) per fluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride
(SF6). These are very strong greenhouse gases with many being more than a
hundred times more powerful than CO2.
• Deforestation increases the amount of CO2 in the air, as there are less trees to
absorb it through photosynthesis
• As industrialization has increased, so too has the increase of greenhouse
gases . Many LICs and NICs are actively industrializing and adopting a
consumer culture. Industrial activity among the NICs has great potential to
add to natural greenhouse gases . Nevertheless, the per-capita emissions in
HICs are responsible for much of the growth in greenhouse gases.
 Effects of enhanced greenhouse effect?
• With an enhanced greenhouse effect, the Earth is unable to release enough heat to
space which leads to global warming. Global weather patterns absorb some of this
overall increase in temperature and adjust for this accumulation in energy. These two
effects are now creating climate changes around the world. The enhanced greenhouse
effect leads to other effects on our climate and has already caused:
• Greater strength of extreme weather events like: heatwaves , tropical cyclones, floods,
and other major storms.
• Increasing number and size of forest fires.
• Rising sea levels (predicted to be as high as two feet by the end of the next century).
• Melting of glaciers and polar ice.
• Increasing acidity in the ocean, resulting in bleaching of coral reefs and damage to
oceanic wildlife.
• ttttt