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Greenhouse effect
The greatest proportion of the heat radiating from the Earth is absorbed by the atmosphere, while some of it is reflected back to the surface of the Earth. This effect is called the greenhouse effect. We distinguish between natural and man-made (anthropogenic) greenhouse effects.
Natural greenhouse effect
- The greenhouse effect.
A large amount of short-wave solar radiation penetrates the atmosphere and is converted into heat waves on the surface of the earth. A part of the long-wave thermal radiation emitted into space is reflected back towards the earth by the greenhouse gases, thus heating the air layers close to the surface.
Without the natural concentration of greenhouse gases the annual average global temperature would be minus 18 degrees Celsius and not a pleasant 15 degrees, as is the case today. In this context the term «natural greenhouse effect» is used.
Since industrialisation, the amount of greenhouse gases has increased, which has additionally heated the earth. This is called «anthropogenic» or «man-made greenhouse» effect.
Anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse effect
- Atmospheric concentration of the persistent greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in the last 2,000 years (IPCC, 2007).
Through human activities, including above all, the burning of fossil fuels (e.g. oil and coal) and the changing of natural landscapes (e.g. deforestation), the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is being raised. This results in the natural effect being reinforced further by an anthropogenic greenhouse effect, leading to a warming of the Earth's atmosphere.
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have risen significantly through human activities since the start of industrialisation, and are now far higher than at any time during the last millennia.
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