Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse effect is caused by greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere by absorbing infrared radiation.

In 1824 the French physicist Joseph Fourier, credited as the discoverer of greenhouse effect, first suggested that the Earth's atmosphere acts as an ‘insulator’. His observations were subsequently confirmed by other scientists. But the term ‘greenhouse effect’ was first used by the Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm in 1901.

In 1896, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius was the first to calculate how increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) will increase the Earth's surface temperature. He predicted for the first time that CO₂ emissions will cause global warming.

About 10,000 years ago CO₂ in the atmosphere was 260 to 280 parts per million (ppm), which increased to 389 ppm in 2011 due to excessive burning of fossil fuels. According to most scientists, the safe level of CO₂ in the atmosphere is 350 ppm or less.

But greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon and an essential evil. Without this effect, the average temperature all over the earth would be −18 °C (0 °F), in place of the current average of 15 °C (59 °F). That is a fall in temperature by 33 °C, which will render the Earth too cold to support life. So, what is required is maintaining greenhouse gas emissions within safe limits by reducing burning of fossil fuels and other causes.

The four major gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. Increase in the amount of these gases makes the air hotter, causing global warming and climate change.

Global warming can cause serious consequences such as desertification, melting of polar ice and glaciers, sea level rise and submerging of coastal areas and islands. It can also cause severe droughts and devastating floods and drastically affect farming and food production.