Greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are compounds that trap solar heat and cause the atmosphere to rise. They are more complex than other gas molecules in the atmosphere and have a structure that can absorb heat. These gases, along with HFCs, HCFCs, and methane, contribute to global warming by trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere.
The greenhouse effect occurs when certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, are trapped inside the Earth’s atmosphere, causing it to heat up. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant greenhouse gas and is released into the atmosphere through the combustion of octane. It is the most potent greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming.
The primary greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and methane. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that has been occurring in the Earth’s atmosphere for billions of years. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are responsible for trapping heat and causing global warming.
The greenhouse effect is primarily a problem of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which absorbs infrared energy and causes the atmosphere to warm. Some atmospheric components like carbon dioxide are called “greenhouse gases” because they absorb infrared energy and cause the atmosphere to warm.
In conclusion, greenhouse gases are essential for maintaining Earth’s temperature and preventing global warming. By analyzing the sources, measures needed to control these gases, and the duration of their presence, we can better understand the role of these gases in the greenhouse effect.
📹 The Global Carbon Cycle: Crash Course Chemistry #46
In this final episode of Crash Course Chemistry, Hank takes us on a tour of The Global Carbon Cycle and how it all works.
Why is carbon dioxide known as a greenhouse gas?
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a greenhouse gas that absorbs long-wavelength infrared energy from the Earth and re-radiates it, some of it back downward, trapping heat around the Earth. It is one of several greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, allowing visible light from the Sun to pass through but absorbing long-wavelength infrared energy to keep the atmosphere warm. The warm interior of a greenhouse is a metaphor for how gases in the atmosphere keep the Earth’s surface warm, unlike the panes of glass in a greenhouse.
Is carbon dioxide the only greenhouse gas in the atmosphere?
Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Natural compounds and synthetic fluorinated gases also play a role. These gases have different chemical properties and are removed from the atmosphere through various processes. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by carbon sinks like forests, soil, and the ocean, while fluorinated gases are destroyed by sunlight in the upper atmosphere.
The influence of a greenhouse gas on global warming depends on three factors: its presence in the atmosphere (measured in parts per million, parts per billion, or parts per trillion), its lifetime (measured in ppm), and its effectiveness in trapping heat (measured in GWP), which is the total energy a gas absorbs over time relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide.
Why are carbon dioxide and methane considered greenhouse gases?
Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Natural compounds and synthetic fluorinated gases also play a role. These gases have different chemical properties and are removed from the atmosphere through various processes. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by carbon sinks like forests, soil, and the ocean, while fluorinated gases are destroyed by sunlight in the upper atmosphere.
The influence of a greenhouse gas on global warming depends on three factors: its presence in the atmosphere (measured in parts per million, parts per billion, or parts per trillion), its lifetime (measured in ppm), and its effectiveness in trapping heat (measured in GWP), which is the total energy a gas absorbs over time relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide.
Why is carbon dioxide considered to be the primary greenhouse gas?
Greenhouse gases are emitted by various sources, including human activities, energy-related activities, agriculture, land-use change, waste management, and industrial processes. Major greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and synthetic chemicals. Carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, accounting for the majority of warming associated with human activities. It occurs naturally as part of the global carbon cycle, but human activities have increased atmospheric loadings through combustion of fossil fuels and other emissions sources.
Natural sinks, such as oceans and plants, help regulate carbon dioxide concentrations, but human activities can disturb or enhance them. Methane comes from various sources, including coal mining, natural gas production, landfill waste decomposition, and digestive processes in livestock and agriculture. Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels. Synthetic chemicals, such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and other synthetic gases, are released due to commercial, industrial, or household uses.
Other gases that trap heat in the atmosphere include water vapor and ozone. Each greenhouse gas has a different ability to absorb heat due to differences in the amount and type of energy it absorbs and the “lifetime” it remains in the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed metrics called “global warming potentials” to facilitate comparisons between gases with substantially different properties.
Why is carbon dioxide considered to be the most important GHG?
Carbon dioxide is the most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, accounting for the majority of warming caused by human activities. It originates naturally as part of the global carbon cycle but has been increased through fossil fuel combustion and other emissions. Natural sinks, such as oceans and plants, help regulate carbon dioxide concentrations, but human activities can disrupt or enhance these processes. Methane, a greenhouse gas, comes from various sources, including coal mining, natural gas production, landfill waste decomposition, and livestock and agriculture digestion processes.
Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels. Synthetic chemicals like hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride are released due to commercial, industrial, or household uses. Other gases, such as water vapor and ozone, trap heat in the atmosphere. Each greenhouse gas has a different ability to absorb heat due to its amount and type of energy and lifetime. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed metrics called “global warming potentials” to facilitate comparisons between gases with different properties.
Why carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and oxygen is not?
The presence of a carbon atom and two oxygen atoms determines a gas’s greenhouse effect. CO2 is a greenhouse gas due to its one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, while oxygen has two identical atoms. However, 99% of the atmosphere is naturally composed of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, which do not have greenhouse-effect characteristics. Therefore, the composition of the atmosphere is not primarily composed of greenhouse gases.
How is CO related to the greenhouse effect?
Carbon monoxide indirectly enhances the global warming potential of greenhouse gases such as methane by interacting with hydroxyl (OH) radicals in the atmosphere. This interaction reduces the abundance and lifetime of these radicals, thereby contributing to the greenhouse effect.
Why carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas but not nitrogen?
GHGs, or greenhouse gases, account for only 0. 1 percent of Earth’s atmosphere, with CO2 accounting for 79, Methane 11 and N2O 7 remaining in the atmosphere for 300-1, 000 years. Oxygen and nitrogen are not GHGs because their molecular structure is not affected by infrared radiation and cannot reflect or retain heat in the form of heat.
The Industrial Revolution has led to a 50-fold increase in atmospheric CO2, increasing heat absorption and causing temperatures to rise by nearly 1°C over the last century. If humanity continues on its current course, this temperature rise is predicted to be over 3°C by 2100, threatening life on Earth.
Additional GHGs have increased the efficiency of the gas blanket surrounding our planet, like adding insulation to keep the interior warmer. However, we have no windows to open to regulate our temperature, forcing us to reduce anthropogenic production of GHGs caused by burning fossil fuels. To achieve net zero carbon emission targets set out in the Paris Agreement, it may be too late for us to find another way to survive.
Why is CO considered a greenhouse gas?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a weak direct greenhouse gas but has significant indirect effects on global warming. It reacts with hydroxyl (OH) radicals in the atmosphere, reducing their abundance and increasing the global warming potential of strong greenhouse gases like methane. CO can also lead to the formation of the tropospheric greenhouse gas ‘ozone’. Atmospheric concentrations of CO vary widely, ranging from 30 parts per billion to 200 parts per billion.
CO2 comes from man-made sources, chemical oxidation of methane and other hydrocarbons, and emissions from vegetation and the world’s oceans. The largest sink for CO2 is its reaction with OH in the atmosphere, but a small amount is also lost through deposition on the ground.
Is CO2 really a greenhouse gas?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a crucial greenhouse gas, resulting from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions. Human activities have increased the atmosphere’s CO2 content by 50 in less than 200 years, causing climate change. The graphs show atmospheric CO2 levels since 1958 and during Earth’s last three glacial cycles. Since the 18th century, human activities have raised atmospheric CO2 by 50, making it 150 of its value in 1750.
This human-induced rise is greater than the natural increase observed at the end of the last ice age 20, 000 years ago. The increase in CO2 is a significant contributor to global warming and climate change.
Why is carbon dioxide considered the main greenhouse gas in Quizlet?
Carbon dioxide is regarded as the primary greenhouse gas due to its pervasive presence in the atmosphere and its substantial role in the greenhouse effect. The majority of emissions contributing to this phenomenon originate from human activities.
📹 Chemistry Quiz | 25 Important Questions and Answers | Science General Knowledge Quiz
In this video, 25 important questions from the Chemistry subject is included. Heavy water is? Which one of the below is found in …
My MCAT is already this weekend and since I graduated with a business undergraduate course, I have little to no background with Organic Chemistry. Having watched your Organic Chemistry series, I have learned so much and even though there’s a lot more to it, I’m finally understanding more of the notes I’ve been reading since I’m learning Org Chem all on my own. Thank you so much for this series!
I just hung my CC periodic table – I wanted to give it to my niece because it’s cute and she could learn from a periodic table with clever creatures on it – but it’s too awesome so I’m keeping it for me 🙂 My labcoat is in the mail…apparently… Lastly – I think there should be an order-able diploma we can hang to show that we watched and vaguely understood EVERY episode 😀
Yay! I work in psych, so this kind of thing is kinda fun. Not that I want to work with this patient population long-term, but I do enjoy learning about it. Plus, there are a LOT of nerdfighters who have anxiety and other mental “issues,” so hopefully this will help us to all understand each other better.
Thank you for all the information. I watch these at work while doing data entry stuff and it is the most rewarding part of my job to attain knowledge. This was a fun course, and I appreciate it, Hank Sensei. Now time to do a 2 week/ 6 episodes a day refresher before bio and A&P. You guys are awesome. Thank you. Keep it up.
Dear Hank, First of all, many many thanks for this marvelous article. I have to say, it has helped me tremendously in the understanding of a certain matter I am deeply concerned about and it also has helped me link several unattached concepts in my head. Also, I wish I had discovered Crash Course when I was in high school, it would have helped me inmensly, either way I love the way you and team make the topic introduction so easy to understand and of course, the beautiful graphics of Thought Café and the sound team :’) Million thanks from a quite slow College Student.
Great summary of the Carbon Cycle. BUT – octane is not the main ingredient in gasoline. The octane rating is a rating system based on the combustion of pure isooctane to give a scale for gasoline autoignition pressure. In fact it is possible to change a gasoline’s octane rating without actually changing its octane or isooctane content. Gasoline is hugely varied in its hydrocarbon content, and can vary significantly from vendor to vendor as to its exact composition so long as the energy contained per unit volume remains according to national standards.
Calentamiento Global y el Ciclo del Carbono explicados. Básicamente la atmósfera atrapa más energía del sol sin poder dejarla escapar, y si sabes que un sistema adquiere más energía, va a “ocupar la” en algo. Como en más tormentas más violentas, nevadas más fuertes y largas, etcétera, etcétera, etcétera. Bueno, más de todo en términos de lo que puede suceder en la atmósfera.
No!! Not the end! I loved this course. It was an essential part of me……….. But I have recently become interested in psychology, weird that a course comes up when I need it! 🙂 BTW, Please make a Crash Course Physics!!! I don’t want Crash Course Chemistry to end! 🙁 I’m going to watch this all over. Again. I’m only 13 and look at the effect this course had on me! I’m a prodigy now!!
Alright I have a question to ask Hank. It is to do with electrolysis. I want to know, when using electrolysis to separate Hydrogen and Oxygen what is the best way to break the bonds without contaminating the elements? and then by way of combustion to recombine them. I am basically curious if one can make a closed system where say 1 litre of Oxygen and 2 litres of Hydrogen can be broken down and recombined over and over again without introducing any impurities?
With that well said the solution to our ever increasing CO2 volumes is to raise more gardens and drive less. If we had more gardens we would drive less to the jobs because food would be our number 1 provision already taken care of right outside our doors within walking distance. PICK AND EAT! More trees means more O2 produced and more absorption of CO2.
While I love this website, and mostly like this article, I’m finding it hard to actually ‘like’ the article. You failed to explain properly the different types of cycles and how their cyclical rates vary. Most importantly you failed to explain why this is important for the whole fossil fuel issue, being part of one cycle that does not naturally bleed into the other so quickly, as we are making it do. I feel that the way you lumped them together will lead people to believe that there is far less of a danger than is actually there. The relevant importance of this makes me very disappointed, Hank. >:(
Well, today is most likely to be my last day perusal CrashCourse chemistry (most likely). I have relied on these articles for the last 2 years of my chemistry in grade 11 and 12. I would just like to thank the CrashCourse staff and Hank. I would not have had done as well in chemistry as I have if not for CrashCourse. Thanks guys!
1:21 Potentially misleading imagery. Clarification: Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere allow visible light from the sun to pass through. That visible light is absorbed by the earth, and that energy is converted to an increase of surface temperature. In turn, the earth radiates infrared energy. Some of that infrared radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases, which then re-emit that energy in any direction, some out into space, and some back to earth.
every time watch crash course article: -after 1 minute pause the article -give time to myself to digest it and BREATH -play the article again for next 1 minute I think crash course must do some innovation to how they deliver some informations, because I hate it when crashcourse do speed speech….oh god, there’s time for me to breath while perusal……fiuhhhh
Sorry, Micro-machine man, even after having watched this, I’m still only ‘aware’ of the carbon cycle. To understand it, I’m going to need someone who’s actually mildly interested in helping me to actually learn. In other words, someone willing to speak at a reasonable pace and inflection. You and Minute Physics must really enjoy each other’s vids.
I wouldn’t freak out too much about climate change or global warming… Right now the world has an average temperature of about 61 degrees Fahrenheit or 16 degrees Celsius… 50-60 million years ago there were basically no ice caps. This was the Eocene thermal maximum, with average temperatures of about 73 degrees Fahrenheit or 25 degrees Celsius. The earth was a very wet tropical place. The range at which animals could live actually expanded. While the earth may be warming, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. People panic about .01 degrees average increase in temperature but we would be fine in a 12 degrees increase. As for polar bears dying off, I guess they need to either evolve to adapt or they will die off.
Is it me or did Hank forget his cocaine today? He really bogged down at some points in this episode.. He was normal hank high speed in other points. Maybe he slows down when he does propaganda? Maybe he’s trying to quit the powder? Maybe nobody’s perusal his articles and he has no money. John’s still pinned. Those life hack debunking things are really popular. Will you people just accept this carbon global thing for a few weeks to help Hank out? You don’t have to really believe it (Hardly anyone does). Just repost the article on FB and mention how frightened you are. I’m kinda worried about him..