What are some greenhouse gases and what do they do?

Answer 1

Water vapor is the #1 greenhouse gas, then there is carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Those are the main ones. As you may already know the earth relies on the greenhouse effect to maintain a suitable temperature for life. The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap the suns rays and reflect them back down to earth creating warming (Global Warming). Most greenhouse gases end up in the atmosphere due to human activity or pollution, except for water vapor which comes from the oceans. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

The earth is like a "black body" from physics, so it emits radiation based on its temperature. Warmer bodies emit more radiation than cold ones. The earth emits most of its energy in an infrared band around a wavelength of 10 microns.

It just so happens that many gases, such as carbon dioxide, waver vapor, ozone, and methane, efficiently absorb energy in this band, but are almost transparent to visible radiation from the sun. Also, similar to the earth, the gases emit energy based on their temperature. Therefore, part of the energy they absorb from the earth is radiated back to it. This energy warms the surface, increasing its temperature. If the earth did not have any of these greenhouse gases, the night-time and winter temperatures would be MUCH colder than they are now.

The problem is that humans are releasing carbon dioxide and methane that have been stored in the ground over millions of years in only a few years. These excess gasses increase the efficiency of the process described above, which raises the average temperature of the earth's surface. These warmer temperatures cause other things to happen that magnify the warming. For example, if the temperature increases, more water evaporates from the ocean. Since water vapor is the MOST IMPORTANT greenhouse gas, adding more to the air has a big impact on temperatures around the world. Also, sea ice or glaciers can melt in warmer temperatures. This makes the surface darker, which absorbs more sunlight. As you can see, the process is quite complicated. I hope this answers your question.

Also, while I'm at it... the term "greenhouse effect" is a misnomer. Greenhouses work by physically trapping air that has been heated by the sunlight entering the building and keeping it close to the plants. The "greenhouse effect" works when gases in the atmosphere radiate absorbed energy back to the earth.

Answer 3

When sunlight reaches the Earth's surface, some is absorbed and warms the earth. Because the earth is much cooler than the sun, it radiates energy at much longer wavelengths than the sun (see Black body radiation and Wien's displacement law); some of these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of this longwave radiant energy warms the atmosphere (the atmosphere also is warmed by transfer of sensible and latent heat from the surface). Greenhouse gases also emit longwave radiation both upward to space and downward to the surface. The downward part of this longwave radiation emitted by the atmosphere is the "greenhouse effect." The term is in fact a misnomer, as this process is not the primary mechanism that warms greenhouses.

The major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth (not including clouds); carbon dioxide, which causes 9-26%; methane, which causes 4-9%, and ozone, which causes 3-7%. Note that it is not really possible to assert that a certain gas causes a certain percentage of the greenhouse effect, because the influences of the various gases are not additive. (The higher ends of the ranges quoted are for the gas alone; the lower ends, for the gas counting overlaps.)

Answer 4

Raw Methane is like 20 times worse for the atmosphere than Carbon Dioxide. Everybody just says CO2 is the worst because it is the most plentiful, if not the most effective at heat-trapping. Methane is produced by human activities like the decomposition of garbage and such. All the greenhouse gases make up less than one percent of the atmospheric gases. Other greenhouse gases are Nitrus Oxide, Carbon Monoxide, Hydro-carbon, among a few others.

Answer 5

Many of the green house gasses (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) are in the atmosphere naturally. They play an important role in the regulation of Earth's temperature.

Light and heat from the sun pass through our atmosphere, striking the earth's surface. The Earth also radiates excess heat and light back into space. When excited by the rays of the sun the molecules of the greenhouse gasses begin to vibrate, trapping a small portion heat. More greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere mean a higher overall ambient temperature. Not a good thing in the extreme.

Answer 6

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gaseous components of the atmosphere that contribute to the "greenhouse effect". Although uncertainty exists about exactly how earth's climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities.

Naturally occuring greenhouse gases include:
-water vapour
-carbon dioxide
-methane
-nitrous oxide
-ozone.

Certain human activities, however, add to the levels of most of these naturally occurring gases.

Answer 7

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the big one. People debate the effects all the time. Some say it contributes to global warming, others say it provides energy to plants, others day its just there and has no effect.

People fall into 3 main categories with respect to grenhouse gases.

1) Greenhouse gasses are bad and we should do everything to stop them at any cost.

2) Greenhouse gasses "might" be bad so we should do our best to reduce them, at some cost.

3) there is not enough proof on the effects of greenhouse gasses, so we should not waste any extra money to reducing them until there is more proof of their effects

Answer 8

In regards to Clamdigger's answer, CFC's are not a greenhouse gas. CFC is a chemical compound that is made of diffrent gasses. CFC's themselves are not a greenhouse gas. When the chemical breacks down however, then it releases a greenhouse gas, Carbon. The other two gasses that make of up basic chain are Chlorine and Flourine. Chlorine is an Ozone destroyers as well.

CFC's do add to the greenhouse gasses, but not as themselves.

Answer 9

carbon dioxide (co2) is one that traps heat. Methane and Ozone are greenhouse gases too.

Answer 10

ram is correct. Methane is the worst GHG in out atmosphere. Although humans are not the only causes of this gas. It also comes out of the earth itself. It is a big killer of miners....