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Greenhouse Gases: Joseph Fourier Claude Pouillet John Tyndall Svante Arrhenius

The greenhouse effect is the process by which greenhouse gases in a planet's atmosphere trap heat radiation from the planet's surface, causing the surface temperature to be warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. On Earth, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane naturally contribute to a greenhouse effect that makes the planet habitable, but human activities that release more of these gases have strengthened the effect and caused global warming. The greenhouse effect was discovered and explored scientifically in the 19th century, though the term "greenhouse effect" was not used until later.

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70 views1 page

Greenhouse Gases: Joseph Fourier Claude Pouillet John Tyndall Svante Arrhenius

The greenhouse effect is the process by which greenhouse gases in a planet's atmosphere trap heat radiation from the planet's surface, causing the surface temperature to be warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. On Earth, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane naturally contribute to a greenhouse effect that makes the planet habitable, but human activities that release more of these gases have strengthened the effect and caused global warming. The greenhouse effect was discovered and explored scientifically in the 19th century, though the term "greenhouse effect" was not used until later.

Uploaded by

Sunil M
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere

warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be without its
atmosphere.[1][2]
If a planet's atmosphere contains radiatively active gases (i.e., greenhouse gases) they will
radiate energy in all directions. Part of this radiation is directed towards the surface,
warming it.[3] The intensity of the downward radiation – that is, the strength of the
greenhouse effect – will depend on the atmosphere's temperature and on the amount of
greenhouse gases that the atmosphere contains.
Earth’s natural greenhouse effect is critical to supporting life. Human activities, mainly the
burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have strengthened the greenhouse effect and
caused global warming.[4]
The term "greenhouse effect" arose from a faulty analogy with the effect of sunlight passing
through glass and warming a greenhouse. The way a greenhouse retains heat is
fundamentally different, as a greenhouse works mostly by reducing airflow so that warm
air is kept inside.[2][5][6]

The existence of the greenhouse effect was argued for by Joseph Fourier in 1824. The
argument and the evidence were further strengthened by Claude Pouillet in 1827 and 1838 and
reasoned from experimental observations by John Tyndall in 1859, who measured the radiative
properties of specific greenhouse gases.[7] The effect was more fully quantified by Svante
Arrhenius in 1896, who made the first quantitative prediction of global warming due to a
hypothetical doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.[8] However, the term "greenhouse" was
not used to refer to this effect by any of these scientists; the term was first used in this way
by Nils Gustaf Ekholm in 1901.[9][10]

Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infraredradiation.
About 26% of the incoming solar energy is reflected to space by the atmosphere and clouds,
and 19% is absorbed by the atmosphere and clouds. Most of the remaining energy is absorbed
at the surface of Earth. Because the Earth's surface is colderthan the Sun, it radiates
at wavelengths that are much longer than the wavelengths that were absorbed. Most of this
thermal radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere and warms it. The atmosphere also gains heat
by sensible and latent heat fluxes from the surface. The atmosphere radiates energy both
upwards and downwards; the part radiated downwards is absorbed by the surface of Earth. This
leads to a higher equilibrium temperature than if the atmosphere were absent.

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