Research

The Green House Effect Summary

There has been a lot of diverse statements and opinions given about the greenhouse gas effect.  The subject is a global issue that has attracted the attention of many people because it affects people’s lives in one way or the other (Reay, 2013). In this summary, I will talk about how radiation is an important aspect of the green house effect. Furthermore, the summary will focus upon the issues raised by some authors concerning this phenomenon.

In the summary, I looked at the information presented by John Houghton who focused on gases that absorb the wavelength radiation. These two gases are carbon dioxide and water vapor; they are known to be good emitters of radiation. For example, black is known to be a good emitter as well as an absorber. The author claims that, “absorbing gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the radiation emitted by the earth’s surface and in turn emit radiation out to space” (Houghton, 2009). This means that the two mentioned gases have a role to play in reducing the green house effect that takes place on the earth. Later on, when carrying out research about this intriguing topic, I came across a book titled, ‘The Greenhouse Effect’ by John Ardill and Stewart Boyle (1989). The authors claim that in the future, radiation will not be as effective as it is today. This is because human beings continue to engage in activities that threaten the absorption of gases. For example, cutting down of trees in the Amazon forest will have adverse effects on the radiation levels existing on earth.

A balance between the outgoing and incoming radiation has to exist in order for radiation to occur well in the atmosphere. John Houghton even came up with a useful diagram that effectively explained this point. Clouds are known to reflect radiation that originates from the sun and then direct it into space (The United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2013). At the same time, clouds emit and absorb thermal radiation and this creates a greenhouse gas blanketing effect. The two known effects work in an opposite manner as one is thermal radiation absorption, and the other is solar radiation reflection. Houghton claims that, “the net effect of clouds in the total budget of radiation results in a slight cooling of the earth’s surface” (Houghton, 2009). This means that in order for the earth to always be cool, there has to be a significant number of clouds in the sky. In the book, ‘Future Weather and Greenhouse effect’ by John Gribbins (1982), it is predicted that earth will have extremely high temperatures in the future. Gribbins has also come up with a diagram that shows how radiation will be low because of the existence of very few clouds.

From the evidence provided by the author’s, it is appropriate to conclude that there is a lot that people can say when talking about the green house gas effect. It seems that they key issue is radiation that affects the temperature levels on earth. Houghton has proven that water vapor and carbon dioxide have a role to play with regards to the absorption and emitting of gases. In addition, the other authors, Gribbins, Ardill and Boyle seem to concur with the information presented by Houghton. They all believe that radiation is an issue of concern that should be controlled in order to reduce the green house effect. Indeed, there is still a lot that can be learnt from this issue and the earth needs to be protected for future generations.

References

Boyle, Stewart. & Ardill, John. (1989). The Greenhouse Effect. Scotland: New English Library.

Gribbin, John. (1982). Future Weather and the Greenhouse Effect. New York: Delacorte.

Houghton, John. (2009). Global warming: The complete Briefing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Reay, Davy. (2013). Green House Gas online. Retrieved from http://www.ghgonline.org/

The United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/