GHGs

Greenhouse gas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Simple diagram of greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emitradiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect.^[1] The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, andozone. 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.^[2][3][4][5]

Human activities since the start of the industrial era around 1750 have increased the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Contents [hide] 1 Greenhouse effects in Earth's atmosphere 2 Natural and anthropogenic 3 Anthropogenic greenhouse gases 4 Role of water vapor 5 Greenhouse gas emissions 5.1 Recent rates of change and emission 5.1.1 Asia 5.1.2 United Kingdom 5.1.3 United States 5.2 Relative CO2 emission from various fuels 6 Removal from the atmosphere and global warming potential 6.1 Natural processes 6.2 Atmospheric lifetime 6.3 Global warming potential 6.4 Airborne fraction 6.5 Negative emissions 7 Related effects 8 See also 9 External links 10 References