greenhouse effect presentation

The Greenhouse Effect

Energy from the Sun that makes its way to Earth can have trouble finding its way back out to space. The greenhouse effect causes some of this energy to be waylaid in the atmosphere, absorbed and released by greenhouse gases.

Without the greenhouse effect, Earth’s temperature would be below freezing . It is, in part, a natural process. However, Earth’s greenhouse effect is getting stronger as we add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. That is warming the climate of our planet.

How Does the Greenhouse Effect Work?

Solar energy absorbed at Earth’s surface is radiated back into the atmosphere as heat. As the heat makes its way through the atmosphere and back out to space, greenhouse gases absorb much of it. Why do greenhouse gases absorb heat? Greenhouse gases are more complex than other gas molecules in the atmosphere, with a structure that can absorb heat. They radiate the heat back to the Earth's surface, to another greenhouse gas molecule, or out to space.

There are several different types of greenhouse gases . The major ones are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gas molecules all are made of three or more atoms. The atoms are held together loosely enough that they vibrate when they absorb heat . Eventually, the vibrating molecules release the radiation, which will likely be absorbed by another greenhouse gas molecule. This process keeps heat near the Earth’s surface. Most of the gas in the atmosphere is nitrogen and oxygen, which cannot absorb heat and contribute to the greenhouse effect.

A Couple of Common Greenhouse Gases

• Carbon dioxide : Made of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, carbon dioxide molecules make up a small fraction of the atmosphere, but have a large effect on climate. There was about 270 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the mid-19th Century at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The amount is growing as burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The concentration has been over 400 ppm since 2015. (Check  NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory  for the latest measurements).
• Methane : A powerful greenhouse gas, able to absorb far more heat than carbon dioxide, methane is made of one carbon and four hydrogen atoms. It is found in very small quantities in the atmosphere but is able to make a big impact on warming. Methane gas is also used as a fuel. When burned, it releases carbon dioxide greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

Above: (Left) The Earth’s surface, warmed by the Sun, radiates heat into the atmosphere. Some heat is absorbed by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and then radiated to space (A). Some heat makes its way to space directly (B). Some heat is absorbed by greenhouse gases and then radiated back towards the Earth’s surface (C). (Right) With more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere later this Century, more heat will be stopped by greenhouse gases, warming the planet. (Image: L.S.Gardiner/UCAR)

More Greenhouse Gases = A Warmer Earth

Even though only a tiny amount of the gases in Earth’s atmosphere are greenhouse gases, they have a huge effect on climate. Sometime during this century, the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is expected to double. Other greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide are increasing as well. The quantity of greenhouse gases is increasing as fossil fuels are burned, releasing the gases and other air pollutants into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases also make their way to the atmosphere from other sources. Farm animals, for example, release methane gas as they digest food. As cement is made from limestone, it releases carbon dioxide.

With more greenhouse gases in the air, heat passing through on its way out of the atmosphere is more likely to be stopped. The added greenhouse gases absorb the heat. They then radiate this heat. Some of the heat will head away from the Earth, some of it will be absorbed by another greenhouse gas molecule, and some of it will wind up back at the planet’s surface again. With more greenhouse gases, heat will stick around, warming the planet.

• Why Earth Is Warming
• Greenhouse Effect Video
• Why Does Climate Change?
• Carbon dioxide
• Some Greenhouse Gases Are Stronger than Others

Related Links

• UCAR Center for Science Education Climate Activities
• NASA Global Climate Change
• Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
• Climate Sensitivity Calculator

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Greenhouse Effect Infographics

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Everything in this life has a cause (and a consequence). Global warming, one of the main problems that Earth and its inhabitants (us!) face, is exacerbated by the greenhouse effect. If you need to give a presentation on topics related to ecology, use these infographics and explain visually what the greenhouse effect is and what it does. All the designs incorporate the theme of ecology one way or another.

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Understanding Global Change

Discover why the climate and environment changes, your place in the Earth system, and paths to a resilient future.

Greenhouse effect

Life as we know it would be impossible if not for the greenhouse effect, the process through which heat is absorbed and re-radiated in that atmosphere. The intensity of a planet’s greenhouse effect is determined by the relative abundance of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere. Without greenhouse gases, most of Earth’s heat would be lost to outer space, and our planet would quickly turn into a giant ball of ice. Increase the amount of greenhouse gases to the levels found on the planet Venus, and the Earth would be as hot as a pizza oven! Fortunately, the strength of Earth’s greenhouse effect keeps our planet within a temperature range that supports life

On this page

What is the greenhouse effect, earth system models about the greenhouse effect, how human activities influence the greenhouse effect, explore the earth system, investigate, links to learn more.

For the classroom:

• Teaching Resources

Global Change Infographic

The greenhouse effect occurs in the atmosphere, and is an essential part of How the Earth System Works. Click the image on the left to open the Understanding Global Change Infographic . Locate the greenhouse effect icon and identify other topics that cause changes to, or are affected by, the greenhouse effect.

Adapted from the Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse effect file

Greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and water vapor  significantly affect the amount of energy in the Earth system, even though they make up a tiny percentage of Earth’s atmosphere.  Solar radiation that passes through the atmosphere and reaches Earth’s surface is either reflected or absorbed . Reflected sunlight doesn’t add any heat to the Earth system because this energy bounces back into space.

However, absorbed sunlight increases the temperature of Earth’s surface, and the warmed surface re-radiates as long-wave radiation (also known as infrared radiation). Infrared radiation is invisible to the eye, but we feel it as heat.

If there were not any greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, all that heat would pass directly back into space. With greenhouse gases present, however, most of the long-wave radiation coming from Earth’s surface is absorbed and then re-radiated in all directions many times before passing back into space. Heat that is re-radiated downward, toward the Earth, is absorbed by the surface and re-radiated again.

Clouds also influence the greenhouse effect. A thick, low cloud cover can enhance the reflectivity of the atmosphere, reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface, but clouds high in the atmosphere can intensify the greenhouse effect by re-radiating heat from the Earth’s surface.

Altogether, this cycle of absorption and re-radiation by greenhouse gases impedes the loss of heat from our atmosphere to space, creating the greenhouse effect. Increases in the amount of greenhouses gases will mean that more heat is trapped, increasing the amount of energy in the Earth system (Earth’s energy budget), and raising Earth’s temperature. This increase in Earth’s average temperature is also known as global warming.

This Earth system model is one way to represent the essential processes and interactions related to the greenhouse effect. Hover over the icons for brief explanations; click on the icons to learn more about each topic. Download the Earth system models on this page. There are a few ways that the relationships among these topics can be represented and explained using the Understanding Global Change icons ( download examples ).  

The greenhouse effect, which influences Earth’s average temperature, affects many of the processes that shape global climate and ecosystems.  This model shows some of the other parts of the Earth system that the greenhouse effect influences, including the water cycle and water temperature .

Humans directly affect the greenhouse effect through activities that result in greenhouse gas emissions. The Earth system model below includes some of the ways that human activities increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Releasing greenhouse gases intensifies the greenhouse effect, and increases Earth’s average air temperatures (also known as global warming). Hover over or click on the icons to learn more about these human causes of change and how they influence the greenhouse effect.

Click the scene icons and bolded terms on this page to learn more about these process and phenomena.

Learn more in these real-world examples, and challenge yourself to  construct a model  that explains the Earth system relationships.

• Ancient fossils and modern climate change
• How Global Warming Works
• NASA:  Global Climate Change:  A Blanket Around the Earth
• UCAR Center for Science Education: The Greenhouse Effect
• IPCC:  What is the Greenhouse Effect?
• Indicators of Change (NCA.2014)
• Human influence on the greenhouse effect
• The Carbon Cycle and Earth’s Climate

The Greenhouse Effect, Simplified

A simplified animation of the greenhouse effect.

greenhouse-effect-revised-hd-english

(mp4) (5.33 MB)

The Greenhouse Effect, Simplified

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What Is the Greenhouse Effect?

Watch this video to learn about the greenhouse effect! Click here to download this video (1920x1080, 105 MB, video/mp4). Click here to download this video about the greenhouse effect in Spanish (1920x1080, 154 MB, video/mp4).

How does the greenhouse effect work?

As you might expect from the name, the greenhouse effect works … like a greenhouse! A greenhouse is a building with glass walls and a glass roof. Greenhouses are used to grow plants, such as tomatoes and tropical flowers.

A greenhouse stays warm inside, even during the winter. In the daytime, sunlight shines into the greenhouse and warms the plants and air inside. At nighttime, it's colder outside, but the greenhouse stays pretty warm inside. That's because the glass walls of the greenhouse trap the Sun's heat.

A greenhouse captures heat from the Sun during the day. Its glass walls trap the Sun's heat, which keeps plants inside the greenhouse warm — even on cold nights. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The greenhouse effect works much the same way on Earth. Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide , trap heat similar to the glass roof of a greenhouse. These heat-trapping gases are called greenhouse gases .

During the day, the Sun shines through the atmosphere. Earth's surface warms up in the sunlight. At night, Earth's surface cools, releasing heat back into the air. But some of the heat is trapped by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That's what keeps our Earth a warm and cozy 58 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius), on average.

Earth's atmosphere traps some of the Sun's heat, preventing it from escaping back into space at night. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

How are humans impacting the greenhouse effect?

Human activities are changing Earth's natural greenhouse effect. Burning fossil fuels like coal and oil puts more carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

NASA has observed increases in the amount of carbon dioxide and some other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Too much of these greenhouse gases can cause Earth's atmosphere to trap more and more heat. This causes Earth to warm up.

What reduces the greenhouse effect on Earth?

Just like a glass greenhouse, Earth's greenhouse is also full of plants! Plants can help to balance the greenhouse effect on Earth. All plants — from giant trees to tiny phytoplankton in the ocean — take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

The ocean also absorbs a lot of excess carbon dioxide in the air. Unfortunately, the increased carbon dioxide in the ocean changes the water, making it more acidic. This is called ocean acidification .

More acidic water can be harmful to many ocean creatures, such as certain shellfish and coral. Warming oceans — from too many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — can also be harmful to these organisms. Warmer waters are a main cause of coral bleaching .

This photograph shows a bleached brain coral. A main cause of coral bleaching is warming oceans. Ocean acidification also stresses coral reef communities. Credit: NOAA

Greenhouse Effect

• Human Population & Impacts
• Climate Change

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Description.

This animation provides an overview of the greenhouse effect, a process that warms the atmosphere and surface of Earth.

Some of the sunlight absorbed by Earth is reemitted as infrared radiation. As shown in the animation, this radiation is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. The greenhouse gases reradiate some of the radiation back to Earth, which warms the planet’s surface.

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that has maintained Earth’s temperature at a habitable level. However, human activities — in particular, the burning of fossil fuels — release additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These additional gases increase the greenhouse effect, making Earth warmer than usual.

This animation is based on a clip from a 2012 Holiday Lecture Series, Changing Planet: Past, Present, Future . Depending on students’ background, it may be helpful to pause the animation at various points to discuss different components of the greenhouse effect.

atmosphere, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), climate, greenhouse gas, methane (CH 4 ), radiation, solar energy, temperature, water vapor

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<p>The resource is licensed under a <a href=" https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license</a>.&nbsp;No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.</p>

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• ENVIRONMENT

What is global warming, explained

The planet is heating up—and fast.

Glaciers are melting , sea levels are rising, cloud forests are dying , and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace. It has become clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives. Called greenhouse gases, their levels are higher now than at any time in the last 800,000 years .

We often call the result global warming, but it is causing a set of changes to the Earth's climate, or long-term weather patterns, that varies from place to place. While many people think of global warming and climate change as synonyms , scientists use “climate change” when describing the complex shifts now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems—in part because some areas actually get cooler in the short term.

Climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures but also extreme weather events , shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas , and a range of other impacts. All of those changes are emerging as humans continue to add heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely on.

What will we do—what can we do—to slow this human-caused warming? How will we cope with the changes we've already set into motion? While we struggle to figure it all out, the fate of the Earth as we know it—coasts, forests, farms, and snow-capped mountains—hangs in the balance.

Understanding the greenhouse effect

The "greenhouse effect" is the warming that happens when certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat . These gases let in light but keep heat from escaping, like the glass walls of a greenhouse, hence the name.

Sunlight shines onto the Earth's surface, where the energy is absorbed and then radiate back into the atmosphere as heat. In the atmosphere, greenhouse gas molecules trap some of the heat, and the rest escapes into space. The more greenhouse gases concentrate in the atmosphere, the more heat gets locked up in the molecules.

For Hungry Minds

Scientists have known about the greenhouse effect since 1824, when Joseph Fourier calculated that the Earth would be much colder if it had no atmosphere. This natural greenhouse effect is what keeps the Earth's climate livable. Without it, the Earth's surface would be an average of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius) cooler.

A polar bear stands sentinel on Rudolf Island in Russia’s Franz Josef Land archipelago, where the perennial ice is melting.

In 1895, the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius discovered that humans could enhance the greenhouse effect by making carbon dioxide , a greenhouse gas. He kicked off 100 years of climate research that has given us a sophisticated understanding of global warming.

Levels of greenhouse gases have gone up and down over the Earth's history, but they had been fairly constant for the past few thousand years. Global average temperatures had also stayed fairly constant over that time— until the past 150 years . Through the burning of fossil fuels and other activities that have emitted large amounts of greenhouse gases, particularly over the past few decades, humans are now enhancing the greenhouse effect and warming Earth significantly, and in ways that promise many effects , scientists warn.

Aren't temperature changes natural?

Human activity isn't the only factor that affects Earth's climate. Volcanic eruptions and variations in solar radiation from sunspots, solar wind, and the Earth's position relative to the sun also play a role. So do large-scale weather patterns such as El Niño .

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How global warming is disrupting life on Earth

These breathtaking natural wonders no longer exist

What is the ozone layer, and why does it matter?

But climate models that scientists use to monitor Earth’s temperatures take those factors into account. Changes in solar radiation levels as well as minute particles suspended in the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions , for example, have contributed only about two percent to the recent warming effect. The balance comes from greenhouse gases and other human-caused factors, such as land use change .

The short timescale of this recent warming is singular as well. Volcanic eruptions , for example, emit particles that temporarily cool the Earth's surface. But their effect lasts just a few years. Events like El Niño also work on fairly short and predictable cycles. On the other hand, the types of global temperature fluctuations that have contributed to ice ages occur on a cycle of hundreds of thousands of years.

For thousands of years now, emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere have been balanced out by greenhouse gases that are naturally absorbed. As a result, greenhouse gas concentrations and temperatures have been fairly stable, which has allowed human civilization to flourish within a consistent climate.

Greenland is covered with a vast amount of ice—but the ice is melting four times faster than thought, suggesting that Greenland may be approaching a dangerous tipping point, with implications for global sea-level rise.

Now, humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution. Changes that have historically taken thousands of years are now happening over the course of decades .

Why does this matter?

The rapid rise in greenhouse gases is a problem because it’s changing the climate faster than some living things can adapt to. Also, a new and more unpredictable climate poses unique challenges to all life.

Historically, Earth's climate has regularly shifted between temperatures like those we see today and temperatures cold enough to cover much of North America and Europe with ice. The difference between average global temperatures today and during those ice ages is only about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius), and the swings have tended to happen slowly, over hundreds of thousands of years.

But with concentrations of greenhouse gases rising, Earth's remaining ice sheets such as Greenland and Antarctica are starting to melt too . That extra water could raise sea levels significantly, and quickly. By 2050, sea levels are predicted to rise between one and 2.3 feet as glaciers melt.

As the mercury rises, the climate can change in unexpected ways. In addition to sea levels rising, weather can become more extreme . This means more intense major storms, more rain followed by longer and drier droughts—a challenge for growing crops—changes in the ranges in which plants and animals can live, and loss of water supplies that have historically come from glaciers.

Related Topics

• ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION
• CLIMATE CHANGE

Why deforestation matters—and what we can do to stop it

There's a frozen labyrinth atop Mount Rainier. What secrets does it hold?

Chile’s glaciers are dying. You can actually hear it.

These caves mean death for Himalayan glaciers

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