Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect

Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect: In this post, we will learn about Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect In Bed 2nd Year there is one of the most important questions comes from Environment Education. You will learn about Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect Teaching is a social and professional activity. It is a process of development. Teaching is a system of actions that induce learning through interpersonal relationships. and all the rest you will study in this Blog.

Related Posts to see:-

Bed 2nd Year Education and Knowledge Study Notes
Bed 2nd Year What do you mean by Components of Environment
Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Integrated Land Use Planning
Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Biodiversity
Bed 2nd Year What do you mean by Threats to Biodiversity
Bed 2nd Year What do you mean by Biodiversity in India
Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Environmental Pollution
Bed 2nd Year What do you understand about Water and Land Pollution
Bed 2nd Year What are the main Pollution of the Environment
Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Ozone Layer

Or

View all Bed Notes ➜ <Click here>

Green House Effect

A greenhouse is meant for plants mainly in cold countries where total insolation at least during the winter season is not sufficient enough to support plant growth. The glasses of the greenhouse are such that these allow the visible sunlight to enter but prevent the long wave infrared rays to go out. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

A greenhouse also does not have any provision for artificial heating.

The Green House Effect means ‘progressive warming-up of the earth’s surface due to the blanketing effect of man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere’ (Oxford Dictionary). (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

Since CO₂ is confined exclusively to the troposphere, its higher concentration may act as a serious pollutant. Under normal conditions with normal CO₂ concentration, the temperature at the surface of the earth is maintained by the energy balance of the sun rays that strike the planet and heat that is radiated back into space. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

However, when, there is an increase in CO₂ concentration, the thick layer of this pas prevents the heat from being re-radiated. Thus this thick CO₂ layer functions like the glass panels of a greenhouse or glass windows of a motor car, allowing the sunlight to filter through but preventing the heat from being re-radiated in outer space. This is called Green House Effect.

Thus, while most heat is absorbed by the CO₂ layer and water vapors in the atmosphere, which adds to the heat that is already present, the net result is the heating-up of the earth’s atmosphere. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

Thus, increasing CO₂ levels tend to warm the air on a global scale in the lower layers of the atmosphere. Nearly, 100 years ago the CO₂ level was 275 ppm. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

Today it is 350 ppm. And by the years 2035 and 2040, it is expected to reach 450 ppm. Imagine the earth’s temperature, CO₂ increase the earth’s temperature by 50% while CFCs are responsible for another 20% increase. There are enough CFCs for the last 120 years.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

The major amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuel (coal, oil, etc.) for domestic cooking, heating, etc., and the fuel consumed in furnaces of power plants, industries, and hot-mix plants, etc. More than 18 x 10¹² tonnes of CO, is being released into the atmosphere from fossil fuels alone each year. In India, on average, thermal power plants are likely to release around 50 million tonnes of CO₂ each year into the atmosphere. Indian coals are notorious for their high ash content (20-30% and 45% in some cases) and for very bad ash qualities. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

The projected annual coal consumption for the four NTPC super-thermal power plants is eight million tones at Singrauli (low grade), five million tones at Korba (high grade, 8.7 million tons at Ramagundam, and nearly five million tones at Farakka (high grade). The coal we burn was produced 250 million years ago, over a period of millions of years.

If eight tons of coal to be burnt at Singrauli, is mined over an area of 10 sq. km., then the deposit-formation period will be roughly 500 years and if mined over an area of 1 sq. km. it would be 5000 years. CO₂ is also emitted during volcanic eruptions.

On global time scales, the known amounts of CO₂ in limestone and fossil sediments suggest that the normal persistence period of CO₂ in the atmosphere is around 100,000 years. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

An increase in CO₂ levels in the atmosphere increases the photosynthesis rate to some extent. Acting as fertilizer, especially in effect may be exploited by using modified crop varieties and agricultural practices. However, an increase in CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere may result in a disastrous greenhouse effect. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

Major Sources of Greenhouse Gases

The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide which is released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels for different purposes in various ways, e.g.,

(i) Electric power stations based on fossil fuels mainly coal and mineral oil emit a huge amount of carbon dioxide which reaches the atmosphere every year. These power stations are the most significant and widespread major sources of man-induced carbon dioxide.

(ii) Numerous factories spread all over the world burn immense quantities of coal, mineral oil, and natural gas and spew huge amounts of carbon dioxide together with other undesirable gases through their chimneys into the atmosphere.

(iii) The third source is the transport sector which includes various types run on coal and petroleum

(iv) The fourth major source of the production of carbon dioxide is deforestation and the burning of firewood.

The people are acquainted with due first three major sources of carton carbon dioxide but the mechanism of the release of carbon dioxide through deforestation is little understood by the common man. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

It is important to note that the vegetations, mainly forests of trees, and soils of the earth are very large storage pools of unoxidized carbon as according to an estimate they contain about 2 trillion tons of carbon in them.

The trees release carbon as carbon dioxide after the carbon is oxidized in two ways e.g., (i) through and the decay and decomposition of felled or naturally fallen trees or parts thereof and (ii) through burning of wood for various domes forest fires et through natural fore of carbon dioxide purpose or through large-scale forest fires either kindled by deliberate or inadvertent actions of man or through natural forest fires due to lightning. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

The vegetation is a very large sink of carbon dioxide because carbon dioxide is used by plants to prepare their food during the process of photosynthesis and thus the huge quantity of carbon dioxide is fixed among the plants.

If the forest cover is reduced through large-scale deforestation for different purposes (for an increase in agricultural lands, for urban and Indus industrial expansion, for commercial purposes, etc.) the consumption of an extra amount of carbon dioxide released through anthropogenic sources (e.g. human volcanoes chimneys of factories, transport vehicles, power stations, etc.) to the atmosphere will be reduced and thus the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will increase.

It is believed that deforestation has added 90 to 180 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere whereas the total contribution of carbon from the burning of mineral oil and coal has been 150 to 180 billion tons since 1860 (the base year of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution 1860). (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

Minor greenhouse gases like halogenated gases (chlorofluorocarbons) and halons are released into the atmosphere during the operation and maintenance of appliances and equipment using chlorofluorocarbons as coolants and propellants (e.g. air-conditioners, refrigeration, several cosmetic goods, plastic foams, fire extinguishers, etc.)

Impact of Green House Effect

(i) Some analysts believe that by 2050, the earth’s mean temperature would increase by 1.5 to 4.5°C. According to one projection, changes will be the least in the topics and the most at the poles. So, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Siberia, and Alaska will be among the most affected. The polar ice caps would melt. The floating Western Antarctica ice sheet could begin to melt.

(ii) A rise of five degrees would raise the sea level by five meters within a few decades, threatening all the densely populated coastal cities from Shanghai to San Francisco. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

(iii) It is suggested that North America would be warmer and drier. The U.S. would produce fewer grains. On the other hand, North and East Africa, the Middle East, India, West Australia, and Mexico would be warmer and wetter, enabling them to produce more grain. Rice growing season, as well as the area under rice cultivation, could increase. However, this may not happen as the higher surface temperature will increase the evaporation of water, thus reducing grain yield.

(iv) According to U.S. Scientist, George Woodwell, India’s annual monsoon rains may even cease altogether.

(v) According to an estimate, if all the ice on the earth should melt 200 feet of water would be added to the surface of all oceans, and low-lying cities such as Bangkok and Venice would be inundated. A rise of 50-100 cm caused by ocean warming would flood low-lying lands in Bangladesh and West Bengal. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

(vi) Due to the greenhouse effect, there may occur more hurricanes and cyclones and early snow melts in mountains causing more floods during monsoon. (Bed 2nd Year What do you understand by Green House Effect)

(vii) According to some, within the next 25 years or so, there will be a rise in sea levels by 1.5 to 3.5 meters, and in Bangladesh alone 15 million people have to move or drown low-lying cities of Dhaka and Kolkata may be inundated.