Greenhouse Gases

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Greenhouse gases Meaning

GHG or GhG are common abbreviations for greenhouse gases. A greenhouse gas is a substance that absorbs and emits radiant energy in the infrared spectrum. As a result, the greenhouse effect is created. Water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are the principal greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere; also, without these greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth’s surface would be around 18 °C rather than the current average of 15 °C. Greenhouse gases can be found in the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and Titan.
Since 1750, when the industrial revolution began, human activities have raised carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This increase appears to have occurred despite the fact that diverse natural carbon sinks in the carbon cycle have absorbed more than half of the emissions.
Temperatures could rise by 2 degrees Celsius if current greenhouse gas emission rates continue. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations has stated that it is the top limit for avoiding “dangerous” levels by 2050. The fact that fossil fuel burning, mostly coal, petroleum, and natural gas, accounts for the great bulk of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, with additional contributions from deforestation and other changes in land use, is alarming in and of itself.

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Greenhouse gases effect

The principal gases responsible for the greenhouse effect include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour, and fluorinated gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the globe. This process of traping and consequently warming the earth is the greenhouse gases effect. All of these gases are naturally occurring, with the exception of fluorinated gases, which are synthetic. The chemical characteristics of greenhouse gases vary. Furthermore, other processes remove them from the atmosphere over time. So-called carbon sinks, for example, absorb carbon
dioxide. Only sunshine and the far high atmosphere can eliminate fluorinated gases.

Greenhouse Gases in Hindi

ग्रीनहाउस गैसों के लिए जीएचजी या जीएचजी सामान्य संक्षिप्ताक्षर हैं। ग्रीनहाउस गैस एक ऐसा पदार्थ है जो अवरक्त स्पेक्ट्रम में विकिरण ऊर्जा को अवशोषित और उत्सर्जित करता है। नतीजतन, ग्रीनहाउस प्रभाव पैदा होता है। जल वाष्प, कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड, मीथेन, नाइट्रस ऑक्साइड और ओजोन पृथ्वी के वायुमंडल में प्रमुख ग्रीनहाउस गैसें हैं; साथ ही, इन ग्रीनहाउस गैसों के बिना, पृथ्वी की सतह का औसत तापमान 15 डिग्री सेल्सियस के वर्तमान औसत के बजाय लगभग 18 डिग्री सेल्सियस होगा। ग्रीनहाउस गैसें शुक्र, मंगल और टाइटन के वातावरण में पाई जा सकती हैं।
1750 से, जब औद्योगिक क्रांति शुरू हुई, मानवीय गतिविधियों ने वातावरण में कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड का स्तर बढ़ा दिया है। यह वृद्धि इस तथ्य के बावजूद हुई प्रतीत होती है कि कार्बन चक्र में विविध प्राकृतिक कार्बन सिंक ने आधे से अधिक उत्सर्जन को अवशोषित कर लिया है।
यदि मौजूदा ग्रीनहाउस गैस उत्सर्जन दर जारी रहती है तो तापमान 2 डिग्री सेल्सियस बढ़ सकता है। संयुक्त राष्ट्र के इंटरगवर्नमेंटल पैनल ऑन क्लाइमेट चेंज ने कहा है कि यह 2050 तक “खतरनाक” स्तरों से बचने के लिए शीर्ष सीमा है। तथ्य यह है कि जीवाश्म ईंधन जलने, ज्यादातर कोयला, पेट्रोलियम और प्राकृतिक गैस, मानवजनित के बड़े हिस्से के लिए जिम्मेदार है। वनों की कटाई और भूमि उपयोग में अन्य परिवर्तनों से अतिरिक्त योगदान के साथ कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड उत्सर्जन अपने आप में खतरनाक है।

Greenhouse gases emissions effect

Greenhouse gases are one of many natural and man-made systems that can impact the global energy balance and cause changes in the Earth’s climate. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit some of the radiated energy from the Earth’s surface, causing heat to be trapped in the lower atmosphere.
The global warming potential of a molecule is determined by both its efficiency as a greenhouse gas and its atmospheric lifetime, and is quantified in comparison to the same mass of CO2 and evaluated over time. On a 20-year timeline, a gas with a high radiative force but a short lifespan will have a big global warming potential. On a 100-year scale, though, it will have a minor one. In contrast, a molecule with a longer atmospheric lifespan than CO2 will have a higher GWP.

Greenhouse gases and climate change

A change in the Earth’s energy balance is referred to as climate change. Over time, it causes either a warming or cooling impact. Positive climate forcing, or warming, occurs when atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases rise, and the cumulative warming effect from greenhouse gases released by humans to the Earth’s atmosphere grew by 45 per cent from 1990 to 2019. When we look at it more closely, we can see that the warming effect of carbon dioxide alone increased by 36%.

Greenhouse gases are necessary because…

Without the natural greenhouse effect, the heat released by the Earth would simply travel outwards from the Earth’s surface into space, necessitating the employment of “greenhouse gases” to preserve our planet at an appropriate temperature for life. Furthermore, it is estimated that the Earth’s average temperature would be around -20°C.
Because it absorbs infrared light from the Sun, a greenhouse gas is named that. A greenhouse gas absorbs the Sun’s infrared light and converts it to heat, which is then circulated in the atmosphere. It gradually vanishes into the void of space. Greenhouse gases also boost the atmosphere’s ability to absorb short-wave radiation from the Sun. On the other hand, this has a far less impact on global temperatures.
The CO2 created by burning fossil fuels is accumulating like an insulating blanket around the Earth, trapping more of the Sun’s heat in our atmosphere, and human acts are referred to as anthropogenic actions. The current increasing greenhouse effect is due to anthropogenic CO2 release.

Greenhouse gases Names List

Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
Methane (CH₄)
Nitrous oxide (N₂O)
Industrial Greenhouses gases:
- Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
- Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
- Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆)
- Nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃)

FAQs on Greenhouse Gases

What are greenhouse gases and what are their consequences?

Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and several synthetic compounds are examples of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases trap some of the Earth’s radiated energy, allowing heat to be trapped in the atmosphere.

Is NOx considered a greenhouse gas?

Through photochemical reactions, nitrogen oxides (NOx) produce the tropospheric greenhouse gas ‘ozone,’ which acts as an indirect greenhouse gas.

What does the greenhouse effect look like in practice?

The warming of a car’s interior when it is left in the sun is an example of the greenhouse effect.

What makes greenhouse gases so dangerous?

Greenhouse gas emissions have a wide range of environmental and health consequences. They can, however, contribute to respiratory problems due to smog and air pollution, as well as create climate change by trapping heat.