Greenhouse Effect: Causes, Consequences and How It Affects Our Planet

The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that allows the Earth to maintain a temperature suitable for sustaining life. This process occurs when solar radiation reaches the earth's surface, warms it and is then re-emitted in the form of infrared radiation. However, certain gases in the atmosphere, known as greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxides (NxOy) and ozone (O3), trap some of this infrared radiation and re-radiate it in all directions, including back towards the earth's surface.

This effect is essential for life, as without it, the average temperature of the planet would be about -18°C, too cold to sustain most life forms today2. However, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, have increased the concentration of these GHGs in the atmosphere, intensifying the natural greenhouse effect and contributing to global warming.

It is important to differentiate the natural greenhouse effect, which is beneficial, from the anthropogenic increase in GHGs that is causing adverse global climate change.

sources

Juste, I. (2021, 7 January). Greenhouse effect: causes, consequences and solutions. EcologíaVerde. Retrieved from ecologiaverde.com.

keywords

greenhouse effect, global warming, global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change, environment

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