Green House Gasses and Global Warming

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1. Most Green House Gasses are naturally occurring but human activities are leading to increase in the amount of GHG emitted and their concentration in atmosphere.

2. Increase in concentration could lead to increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events – including flooding, droughts wildfire and hurricanes.

3. Carbon dioxide ( CO2), methane and nitrous oxide are major Green House Gasses.

4. CO2 stays in the atmosphere for up to 1,000 years, methane for around a decade and nitrous oxide for approximately 120 years. Measured over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent than CO2 in causing global warming, while nitrous oxide is 280 times more potent.

5. Carbon is the main element in Coal, oil and natural gas and burning of these releases carbon dioxide into atmosphere.  

6. Oil and gas extraction, coal mining and waste landfills account for 55 per cent of human-caused methane emissions. Approximately 32 per cent of human-caused methane emissions are attributable to cows, sheep and other ruminants that ferment food in their stomachs. Manure decomposition is another agricultural source of the gas, as is rice cultivation. 

7. Human-caused nitrous oxide emissions largely arise from agriculture practices. Bacteria in soil and water naturally convert nitrogen into nitrous oxide, but fertilizer use and run-off add to this process by putting more nitrogen into the environment.

8. While fluorinated gases are far less prevalent than other GHGs and do not deplete the ozone layer like CFCs, they are still very powerful. Over a 20-year period, the various fluorinated gases’ global warming potential ranges from 460–16,300 times greater than that of CO2.

9. Water vapour is the most abundant GHG in the atmosphere and is the biggest overall contributor to the greenhouse effect.   However, almost all the water vapour in the atmosphere comes from natural processes. Human induced emissions are very small and thus relatively less impactful.

10. The Earth’s surface absorbs about 48 per cent of incoming solar energy, while the atmosphere absorbs 23 per cent. The rest is reflected back into space. Natural processes ensure that the amount of incoming and outgoing energy are equal, keeping the planet’s temperature stable,

11. However, GHGs, unlike other atmospheric gases such as oxygen and nitrogen, are opaque to outgoing infrared radiation. As the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere increases due to human-caused emissions, energy radiated from the surface becomes trapped in the atmosphere, unable to escape the planet. This energy returns to the surface, where it is reabsorbed.

12. Since more energy enters than exits the planet, surface temperatures increase until a new balance is achieved. This temperature increase has long-term climate impacts and affects myriad natural systems. 


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