What was greenhouse effect

Too much of these greenhouse gases can cause Earth's atmosphere to trap more and more heat. This causes Earth to warm up. Just like a glass greenhouse, Earth's greenhouse is also full of plants!

Plants can help to balance the greenhouse effect on Earth. All plants — from giant trees to tiny phytoplankton in the ocean — take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. The ocean also absorbs a lot of excess carbon dioxide in the air. Unfortunately, the increased carbon dioxide in the ocean changes the water, making it more acidic. This is called ocean acidification.

More acidic water can be harmful to many ocean creatures, such as certain shellfish and coral. Warming oceans — from too many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — can also be harmful to these organisms. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution and the advent of coal-powered steam engines, human activities have vastly increased the volume of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

It is estimated that between and , atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide increased by 40 percent, methane by percent, and nitrous oxide by 20 percent. In the late s, we started adding man-made fluorinated gases like chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, to the mix. Of all the man-made emissions of carbon dioxide—the most abundant greenhouse gas released by human activities, and one of the longest-lasting—from to , approximately half were generated in the last 40 years alone, in large part due to fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes.

In , carbon emissions rose by 1. The most significant gases that cause global warming via the greenhouse effect are the following:. Carbon Dioxide Accounting for about 76 percent of global human-caused emissions, carbon dioxide CO 2 sticks around for quite a while. Methane Although methane CH 4 persists in the atmosphere for far less time than carbon dioxide about a decade , it is much more potent in terms of the greenhouse effect.

In fact, pound for pound, its global warming impact is 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide over a year period. Globally it accounts for approximately 16 percent of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrous Oxide Nitrous oxide N 2 O is a powerful greenhouse gas: It has a GWP times that of carbon dioxide on a year time scale, and it remains in the atmosphere, on average, a little more than a century.

It accounts for about 6 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Fluorinated Gases Emitted from a variety of manufacturing and industrial processes, fluorinated gases are man-made. Although fluorinated gases are emitted in smaller quantities than other greenhouse gases they account for just 2 percent of man-made global greenhouse gas emissions , they trap substantially more heat. Indeed, the GWP for these gases can be in the thousands to tens of thousands, and they have long atmospheric lifetimes, in some cases lasting tens of thousands of years.

Replacing these HFCs and properly disposing of them is considered to be one of the most import ant climate actions the world can take. Water Vapor The most abundant greenhouse gas overall, water vapor differs from other greenhouse gases in that changes in its atmospheric concentrations are linked not to human activities directly, but rather to the warming that results from the other greenhouse gases we emit.

Warmer air holds more water. And since water vapor is a greenhouse gas, more water absorbs more heat, inducing even greater warming and perpetuating a positive feedback loop. Population size, economic activity, lifestyle, energy use, land use patterns, technology, and climate policy: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC , these are the broad forcing s that drive nearly all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Electricity and Heat Production The burning of coal, oil, and natural gas to produce electricity and heat accounts for one-quarter of worldwide human-driven emissions, making it the largest single source. Agriculture and Land Use Changes About another quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions stem from agriculture and other land-use activities such as deforestation. In the United States, agricultural activities —primarily the raising of livestock and crops for food—accounted for 8.

Of those, the vast majority were methane which is produced as manure decomposes and as beef and dairy cows belch and pass gas and nitrous oxide often released with the use of nitrogen-heavy fertilizers.

Trees, plants, and soil absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The plants and trees do it via photosynthesis a process by which they turn carbon dioxide into glucose ; the soil houses microbes that carbon binds to.

So nonagricultural land-use changes such as deforestation, reforestation replanting in existing forested areas , and afforestation creating new forested areas can either increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere as in the case of deforestation or decrease it via absorption, removing more carbon dioxide from the air than they emit. Climate action is synonymous with any policy, measure or programme that works to reduce greenhouse gases, builds resilience to climate change or supports and finances those objectives.

The Paris Agreement was the first major international agreement towards those ends. Skip to main content. You are in Environment Consequences of the greenhouse effect. Share in Twitter. Share in Facebook. Whatsapp Whatsapp. The consequences of the greenhouse effect: from desertification to floods Human action is causing an increase in global temperature.

Numerous gases that are part of the atmosphere absorb the Earth's infra-red radiation, producing an increase in the temperature of the surface of our planet and the atmospheric layer that surrounds it. Radiation escaping into space. Evolution of CO 2. CO 2 is the gas that contributes the most to the greenhouse effect. We present the history of emissions in the world during the last decade.

Let's find out about the main consequences of this phenomenon: Thawing of glacial masses Glaciers retreat also has its own consequences: reduced albedo — the percentage of solar radiation that the earth's surface reflects or returns to the atmosphere —, a global rise in sea level and the release of large methane columns are only some of them, however, they are all dramatic for the planet.

Additionally, the introduction of pollution control technologies e. Production of adipic acid results in N 2 O emissions that can be reduced through technological upgrades. Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential in U.

Forestry and Agriculture. Unlike many other greenhouse gases, fluorinated gases have no natural sources and only come from human-related activities.

They are emitted through their use as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances e. Many fluorinated gases have very high global warming potentials GWPs relative to other greenhouse gases, so small atmospheric concentrations can have disproportionately large effects on global temperatures.

They can also have long atmospheric lifetimes—in some cases, lasting thousands of years. Like other long-lived greenhouse gases, most fluorinated gases are well-mixed in the atmosphere, spreading around the world after they are emitted.

Many fluorinated gases are removed from the atmosphere only when they are destroyed by sunlight in the far upper atmosphere. In general, fluorinated gases are the most potent and longest lasting type of greenhouse gases emitted by human activities. The largest sources of fluorinated gas emissions are described below. To find out more about the role of fluorinated gases in warming the atmosphere and their sources, visit the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gas Emissions page.

Overall, fluorinated gas emissions in the United States have increased by about 86 percent between and This increase has been driven by a percent increase in emissions of hydrofluorocarbons HFCs since , as they have been widely used as a substitute for ozone-depleting substances. Emissions of perfluorocarbons PFCs and sulfur hexafluoride SF 6 have actually declined during this time due to emission reduction efforts in the aluminum production industry PFCs and the electricity transmission and distribution industry SF 6.

Because most fluorinated gases have a very long atmospheric lifetime, it will take many years to see a noticeable decline in current concentrations. However, there are a number of ways to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases, described below.

Refrigerants used by businesses and residences emit fluorinated gases. Emissions can be reduced by better handling of these gases and use of substitutes with lower global warming potentials and other technological improvements.

Industrial users of fluorinated gases can reduce emissions by adopting fluorinated gas recycling and destruction processes, optimizing production to minimize emissions, and replacing these gases with alternatives.

EPA has experience with these gases in the following sectors:. Sulfur hexafluoride is an extremely potent greenhouse gas that is used for several purposes when transmitting electricity through the power grid. EPA is working with industry to reduce emissions through the SF 6 Emission Reduction Partnership for Electric Power Systems , which promotes leak detection and repair, use of recycling equipment, and employee training.

Hydrofluorocarbons HFCs are released through the leakage of refrigerants used in vehicle air-conditioning systems. Leakage can be reduced through better system components, and through the use of alternative refrigerants with lower global warming potentials than those presently used.

Skip to main content. Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Contact Us. Overview of Greenhouse Gases. An explanation of units: A million metric tons is equal to about 2. Methane Emissions Properties of Methane.

Emissions of Fluorinated Gases Properties of F-gases. Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. Learn about EPA's motor vehicle standards that improve vehicle efficiency and save drivers money.