The main sources of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. Sources of greenhouse gas emissions

One of the main greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide - carbon dioxide (CO2). Until recently, its role was overemphasized; up to half of the total contribution to the greenhouse effect was attributed to it. However, we have now come to the conclusion that this estimate was overestimated.

It has been instrumentally proven that in recent decades the annual accumulation of CO 2 in the atmosphere is 0.4%. Since the beginning of the 20th century. the level of CO 2 in the atmosphere increased by 31%. This value is essential to increase the temperature. According to the most optimistic scenario, the temperature will increase in the next century by 1.5-2°C, and the most pessimistic scenario - by almost 6°C.

Every year, 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources, of which 3 billion tons are absorbed by vegetation in the processes of photosynthesis, and the remaining 3 billion tons are accumulated. The total amount of accumulation due to human fault over the past 100 years has amounted to about 170 billion tons. The given data should be considered in comparison with the 190 billion tons of carbon dioxide that enter the atmosphere annually as a result of natural processes. According to estimates by a number of Russian scientists, the contribution of anthropogenic activities to global warming is only 10-15%, and the rest is due to global natural cycles. Therefore, human efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to significantly slow down the coming warming.

An increase in CO 2 concentration does not mean death for the biosphere. Millions of years ago, during the Carboniferous period, the concentration of CO 2 was 10 times higher than now. During that period, vegetation developed wildly, trees reached large sizes. But conditions were unfavorable for the human population. The maximum upper level of CO2 content in the atmosphere for humans has not been established.

There are different hypotheses about the reasons for the accumulation of CO 2 in the atmosphere. According to the first, most common point of view, carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere as a product of the combustion of organic fuel. The second hypothesis considers the main reason for the increase in CO 2 content to be the dysfunction of microbial communities in the soils of Siberia and part of North America. Regardless of the choice of hypothesis, carbon dioxide accumulation occurs on an ever-increasing scale.

Greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrogen oxides and water vapor have a major impact on the climate.

Underestimated until recently role of methane(SN 4). It is actively involved in the greenhouse effect. In addition, rising to a height of 15-20 km, methane, under the influence of sunlight, decomposes into hydrogen and carbon, which, when combined with oxygen, forms carbon dioxide. This further enhances the greenhouse effect.

In nature, CH 4 is formed in swamps during the decay of organic matter; it is also called swamp gas. Methane also occurs in extensive mangroves in tropical areas. An increase in the concentration of CH 4 occurs in the world due to the destruction of biota. In addition, it enters the atmosphere from tectonic faults on land and on the ocean floor.

Anthropogenic methane emissions are associated with the exploration and extraction of mineral resources, with the combustion of mineral fuels in thermal power plants and organic fuels in internal combustion engines of vehicles, and its release on livestock farms. The use of nitrogen fertilizers, rice cultivation, municipal waste dumping, leakage and incomplete combustion of natural gas also lead to increased emissions of methane and nitrogen oxides, which are potent greenhouse gases. The content of CH 4 in the atmosphere, according to instrumental data, increases by 1% per year. Over the past 100 years the growth has been 145%.

Nitrogen oxides accumulate in the atmosphere per year within 0.2%, and the total accumulation during the period of intensive industrial development was about 15%. The increase in the content of nitrogen oxides is caused by agricultural activities and massive destruction of forests.

Rapid warming of the climate on Earth leads to an acceleration of the water cycle in nature, increased evaporation from water surfaces, which contributes to the accumulation water vapor in the atmosphere and intensifying the greenhouse effect. According to some scientists, about 60% of the greenhouse effect is caused by water vapor. The more of them there are in the troposphere, the stronger the greenhouse effect, and their concentration, in turn, depends on surface temperatures and the area of the water surface.

The Soviet climatologist and meteorologist Mikhail Ivanovich Budyko, back in 1962, was the first to publish ideas that the burning of a huge amount of various fuels by humanity, which especially increased in the second half of the 20th century, will inevitably lead to an increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And it, as is known, delays the release of solar and deep heat from the Earth’s surface into space, which leads to the effect that we observe in glass greenhouses. As a result of this greenhouse effect, the average temperature of the surface layer of the atmosphere should gradually increase. The conclusions of M. I. Budyko interested American meteorologists. They checked his calculations, made numerous observations themselves, and by the end of the sixties they came to the firm conviction that the greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere exists and is growing.

The main greenhouse gases, in order of their estimated impact on the Earth's heat balance, are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone, and nitrous oxide.

Rice. 3. Structure of greenhouse gas emissions by countries

Water vapor is the most important natural greenhouse gas and makes a significant contribution to the greenhouse effect with a strong positive feedback. An increase in air temperature causes an increase in the moisture content of the atmosphere while maintaining relative humidity, which causes an increase in the greenhouse effect and thereby contributes to a further increase in air temperature. The influence of water vapor can also manifest itself through increased cloudiness and changes in precipitation. Human economic activity contributes less than 1% to water vapor emissions.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) . In addition to water vapor, carbon dioxide plays the most important role in creating the greenhouse effect. The planetary carbon cycle is a complex system; its functioning at different characteristic times is determined by various processes that correspond to different rates of CO2 cycling. Carbon dioxide, like nitrogen and water vapor, entered and continues to enter the atmosphere from the deep layers of the planet during degassing of the upper mantle and the earth's crust. These components of atmospheric air are among the gases released into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions, released from deep cracks in the earth's crust and from hot springs.

Rice. 4. Structure of carbon dioxide emissions by region of the planet in the 1990s

Methane (CH4). Methane is greenhouse gas. If the degree of impact of carbon dioxide on climate is conventionally taken as one, then the greenhouse activity of methane will be 23 units. Methane levels in the atmosphere have increased very rapidly over the past two centuries. Now the average content of methane CH 4 in the modern atmosphere is estimated as 1.8 ppm ( parts per million, parts per million). Its contribution to the dissipation and retention of heat emitted by the sun-heated Earth is significantly higher than that from CO 2. In addition, methane absorbs the Earth's radiation in those “windows” of the spectrum that are transparent to other greenhouse gases. Without greenhouse gases - CO 2, water vapor, methane and some other impurities, the average temperature on the Earth's surface would be only –23°C, but now it is about +15°C. Methane seeps out at the bottom of the ocean through cracks in the earth's crust and is released in considerable quantities during mining and when forests are burned. Recently, a new, completely unexpected source of methane was discovered - higher plants, but the mechanisms of formation and the significance of this process for the plants themselves have not yet been clarified.

Nitric oxide (N2O) is the third most important greenhouse gas under the Kyoto Protocol. It is released in the production and use of mineral fertilizers, in the chemical industry, in agriculture, etc. It accounts for about 6% of global warming.

Tropospheric ozone, i As a greenhouse gas, tropospheric ozone (trop. O 3) has both a direct effect on climate through the absorption of long-wave radiation from the Earth and short-wave radiation from the Sun, and through chemical reactions that change the concentrations of other greenhouse gases, for example, methane (trop. O 3 is necessary for the formation of an important oxidizer of greenhouse gases - radical - OH). Increasing concentration of trails. Since the mid-18th century, O 3 has been the third largest positive radiative impact on the Earth's atmosphere after CO 2 and CH 4 . In general, the content of the trails. O 3 in the troposphere is determined by the processes of its formation and destruction during chemical reactions involving ozone precursors, which have both natural and anthropogenic origin, as well as the processes of ozone transfer from the stratosphere (where its content is much higher) and the absorption of ozone by the earth's surface. Lifetime of the trail. O 3 - up to several months, which is significantly less than other greenhouse gases (CO 2, CH 4, N 2 O). Concentration of trails. O3 varies significantly over time, space and altitude, and its monitoring is much more difficult than monitoring well-mixed greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Scientists have made a clear conclusion that atmospheric emissions caused by human activity lead to a significant increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Based on calculations using computer models, it was shown that if the current rate of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere continues, then in just 30 years the temperature on average around the globe will increase by approximately 1°. This is an unusually large increase in temperature based on paleoclimate data. It should be noted that expert estimates are apparently somewhat underestimated. Warming is likely to increase as a result of a number of natural processes. Warming greater than predicted may be due to the inability of a warming ocean to absorb the estimated amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The results of numerical modeling also show that the average global temperature in the next century will increase at a rate of 0.3°C per 10 years. As a result, by 2050 it may increase (compared to pre-industrial times) by 2°C, and by 2100 - by 4°C. Global warming should be accompanied by increased precipitation (by several percent by 2030), as well as a rise in sea levels (by 2030 by 20 cm, and by the end of the century by 65 cm).

Greenhouse gases are gases that have high transparency in the visible range and high absorption in the far infrared range. The presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is the main reason for the formation of the greenhouse effect, which, in turn, leads to significant climate change on the planet. Recently, on our planet, the greenhouse effect has been felt quite acutely, as every year the climate changes towards warming. The phenomenon of the greenhouse effect on the planet is similar to the principle of an ordinary garden greenhouse, in which the sun's rays pass through a transparent wall and roof, thereby heating the soil and increasing the air temperature in the greenhouse. Thanks to the design of the greenhouse, the high air temperature in it is maintained. The same thing happens on Earth. Emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere lead to the formation of a certain shell over the planet, consisting of substances capable of transmitting the sun's rays. Thus, this shell is capable of retaining heat on the planet, like in a greenhouse.

For growing plants, the effect of heat conservation is favorable conditions, but it can cause irreparable harm to the planet.

Greenhouse gases released into the earth's atmosphere include the following:

carbon dioxide;
water vapor;
methane;
ozone;
freons;
other gases (hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride and many others. There are about 30 types of such gases, which also take part in the formation of the greenhouse effect).

All greenhouse gases are classified into two types according to the form of their formation:

Natural gases;
Anthropogenic substances.

The first type speaks for itself. The formation of such gases occurs as a result of natural processes that occur on earth. These include, for example, water vapor, when water from rivers and reservoirs evaporates under the influence of sunlight. Since these processes are natural, it is impossible to influence their course. In addition, they do not cause visible harm to the Earth’s ecology.

Anthropogenic substances, unlike natural gases, are produced during human activity. In this case, greenhouse gas emissions cause irreparable damage to the atmosphere and, as a result, the ecology of the planet. Since the formation of anthropogenic substances is a consequence of human activity, in this case, the volume of greenhouse gas emissions can be controlled by taking certain measures aimed at improving the ecology on Earth.

It is worth noting that there are a huge number of sources of formation of harmful greenhouse gases. However, according to experts who control their emissions, the largest amount of anthropogenic substances is released into the atmosphere as a result of the processing and consumption of fossil fuels. This category accounts for about 82-88% of the formation of all greenhouse gases. Fuel processing is carried out at many enterprises, for the production cycle of which it is necessary to heat some type of raw material. This category also includes vehicles powered by internal combustion engines that emit exhaust gases into the atmosphere.

The second place in the amount of formation of harmful gases emitted into the atmosphere belongs to the processes of burning biomass, which is formed as a result of deforestation, especially tropical ones. The fact is that this process is inextricably linked with the formation of carbon dioxide in large quantities. As a result of this activity, the atmosphere is replenished with greenhouse gases by 10-12%.

The remaining few percent of anthropogenic substances are formed as a result of the activities of industrial enterprises involved in the production of metal, cement, polymers and other materials. Such industries account for about 2% of all other pollution.

Thus, human evolution leads to a significant deterioration of the ecology on the planet and significant harm to the environment. Currently, more and more legislation and technologies are appearing aimed at preserving the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, in 1997, Japan adopted the Kyoto Protocol, which obliges all signatory countries to stabilize or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The provisions of the protocol are valid until 2020. In accordance with this document, all EU countries must reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere by at least 8%, the USA by 7%, Japan by 6%, Russia and Ukraine - stabilize industrial production and prevent their increase. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will significantly improve the environmental situation on the planet and prevent premature global warming.

So, there are certain measures, the implementation of which will allow this to be done. These measures are also prescribed in the Kyoto Protocol. These include:

Improving industrial enterprises, as well as increasing their efficiency. This point is the main one on the way to combating the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.
Greening the planet. Countries that have signed the document are obliged to increase the volume of forestry on their territory, as well as stimulate reforestation;
Stimulation of any research in the field of renewable energy sources and carbon dioxide absorption technologies;
Providing benefits and relief to industrial taxpayers who are actively switching to environmentally friendly technologies, as well as stimulating reforestation and implementing other measures aimed at improving the environmental situation on the planet;
Limiting emissions of vehicle exhaust gases, which consists of stimulating the production of electric vehicles, as well as the transition to more environmentally friendly fuel.

In addition, additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and improve the environmental situation are:

Elimination of inefficient use of electricity;
Increasing the efficiency of natural resources;
Timely prevention of forest fires;
Introducing the use of renewable or non-carbon energy sources;
Reducing the irrational use of water resources;

A greenhouse gas is a mixture of several transparent atmospheric gases that practically do not transmit the Earth's thermal radiation. An increase in their concentration leads to global and irreversible climate change. There are several types of main greenhouse gases. The concentration in the atmosphere of each of them affects the thermal effect in its own way.

Main types

There are several types of gaseous substances that are among the most significant greenhouse gases:

water vapor;
carbon dioxide;
nitrous oxide;
methane;
freons;
PFCs (perfluorocarbons);
HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons);
SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride).

About 30 leading to the greenhouse effect have been identified. Substances influence the thermal processes of the Earth depending on the quantity and strength of influence on one molecule. Based on the nature of their occurrence in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are divided into natural and anthropogenic.

water vapor

A common greenhouse gas is its amount in the Earth's atmosphere exceeds the concentration of carbon dioxide. Water vapor has a natural origin: external factors are not able to influence its increase in the environment. The temperature of the World Ocean and air regulates the number of molecules of water evaporation.

An important characteristic of the properties of water vapor is its positive inverse relationship with carbon dioxide. It has been established that the greenhouse effect caused by the emission is approximately doubled due to the effect of water evaporation molecules.

Thus, water vapor as a greenhouse gas is a powerful catalyst for anthropogenic climate warming. Its influence on greenhouse processes should be considered only in conjunction with the properties of a positive connection with carbon dioxide. Water vapor itself does not lead to such global changes.

Carbon dioxide

It occupies a leading place among greenhouse gases of anthropogenic origin. It has been established that about 65% of global warming is associated with increased emissions of carbon dioxide into the Earth's atmosphere. The main factor in increasing gas concentration is, of course, human production and technical activity.

Fuel combustion ranks first (86% of total carbon dioxide emissions) among the sources of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Other reasons include the burning of biological mass - mainly forests - and industrial emissions.

Carbon dioxide greenhouse gas is the most effective driver of global warming. After entering the atmosphere, carbon dioxide travels a long way through all its layers. The time required to remove 65% of the carbon dioxide from the air envelope is called the effective residence period. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide persist for 50-200 years. It is the long duration of presence of carbon dioxide in the environment that plays a significant role in the processes of the greenhouse effect.

Methane

It enters the atmosphere through natural and anthropogenic means. Despite the fact that its concentration is much lower than that of carbon dioxide, methane acts as a more significant greenhouse gas. 1 molecule of methane is estimated to be 25 times stronger in the greenhouse effect than a molecule of carbon dioxide.

Currently, the atmosphere contains about 20% methane (out of 100% greenhouse gases). Methane enters the air artificially due to industrial emissions. The natural mechanism of gas formation is considered to be excessive decay of organic substances and excessive combustion of forest biomass.

Nitric oxide (I)

Nitrous oxide is considered the third most important greenhouse gas. This is a substance that has a negative effect on the ozone layer. It has been established that about 6% of the greenhouse effect is due to monovalent nitric oxide. The compound is 250 times stronger than carbon dioxide.

Dinitrogen monoxide occurs naturally in the Earth's atmosphere. It has a positive relationship with the ozone layer: the higher the concentration of oxide, the higher the degree of destruction. On the one hand, reducing ozone reduces the greenhouse effect. At the same time, radioactive radiation is much more dangerous for the planet. The role of ozone in global warming is being studied, and experts are divided on this matter.

PFCs and HFCs

Hydrocarbons with partial replacement of fluorine in the structure of the molecule are greenhouse gases of anthropogenic origin. The total impact of such substances on global warming is about 6%.

PFCs are released into the atmosphere from the production of aluminum, electrical equipment, and various solvents. HFCs are compounds in which hydrogen is partially replaced by halogens. They are used in production and in aerosols to replace substances that destroy the ozone layer. They have a high global warming potential, but are safer for the Earth's atmosphere.

Sulfur hexafluoride

Used as an insulating agent in the electrical power industry. The compound tends to persist for a long time in the layers of the atmosphere, which causes long-term and extensive absorption of infrared rays. Even a small amount will have a significant impact on the climate in the future.

Greenhouse effect

The process can be observed not only on Earth, but also on neighboring Venus. Its atmosphere currently consists entirely of carbon dioxide, which has led to an increase in surface temperatures to 475 degrees. Experts are confident that the oceans helped the Earth avoid the same fate: by partially absorbing carbon dioxide, they help remove it from the surrounding air.

Emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere block heat rays, causing the Earth's temperature to rise. Global warming is fraught with serious consequences in the form of an increase in the area of the World Ocean, an increase in natural disasters and precipitation. The existence of species in coastal areas and islands is becoming threatened.

In 1997, the UN adopted the Kyoto Protocol, which was created in order to control the amount of emissions on the territory of each state. Environmentalists are confident that it will no longer be possible to completely solve the problem of global warming, but it remains possible to significantly mitigate the ongoing processes.

Limitation methods

Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by following several rules:

eliminate inefficient use of electricity;
increase the efficiency of natural resources;
increase the number of forests, prevent forest fires in a timely manner;
use environmentally friendly technologies in production;
introduce the use of renewable or non-carbon energy sources.

Greenhouse gases in Russia are emitted due to extensive power generation, mining and industrial development.

The main task of science is the invention and implementation of environmentally friendly fuels, the development of a new approach to the processing of waste materials. Gradual reform of production standards, strict control of the technical sphere and careful attitude of everyone towards the environment can significantly reduce Global warming can no longer be avoided, but the process is still controllable.

Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gases are gases that are believed to cause the global greenhouse effect.

The main greenhouse gases, in order of their estimated impact on the Earth's thermal balance, are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, halocarbons and nitrous oxide.

water vapor

Water vapor is the main natural greenhouse gas, responsible for more than 60% of the effect. Direct anthropogenic impact on this source is insignificant. At the same time, an increase in the Earth's temperature caused by other factors increases evaporation and the total concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere at almost constant relative humidity, which in turn increases the greenhouse effect. Thus, some positive feedback occurs.

Methane

A gigantic eruption of methane accumulated under the seabed 55 million years ago warmed the Earth by 7 degrees Celsius.

The same thing can happen now - this assumption was confirmed by researchers from NASA. Using computer simulations of ancient climates, they tried to better understand the role of methane in climate change. Currently, most research on the greenhouse effect focuses on the role of carbon dioxide in this effect, although the potential of methane to retain heat in the atmosphere is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.

A variety of gas-powered household appliances are contributing to the increase in methane content in the atmosphere.

Over the past 200 years, methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled due to decomposition of organic matter in swamps and wet lowlands, as well as leaks from man-made objects such as gas pipelines, coal mines, increased irrigation and off-gassing from livestock. But there is another source of methane - decaying organic matter in ocean sediments, preserved frozen under the seabed.

Typically, low temperatures and high pressure keep methane under the ocean in a stable state, but this was not always the case. During periods of global warming, such as the late Paleocene Thermal Maximum, which occurred 55 million years ago and lasted for 100 thousand years, the movement of lithospheric plates, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, led to a drop in pressure on the seafloor and could cause a large release of methane. As the atmosphere and ocean began to warm, methane emissions could increase. Some scientists believe that current global warming could lead to the same scenario - if the ocean warms up significantly.

When methane enters the atmosphere, it reacts with oxygen and hydrogen molecules to create carbon dioxide and water vapor, each of which can cause the greenhouse effect. According to previous forecasts, all emitted methane will turn into carbon dioxide and water in about 10 years. If this is true, then increasing carbon dioxide concentrations will be the main cause of warming of the planet. However, attempts to confirm the reasoning with references to the past were unsuccessful - no traces of an increase in carbon dioxide concentration 55 million years ago were found.

The models used in the new study showed that when the level of methane in the atmosphere sharply increases, the content of oxygen and hydrogen reacting with methane in it decreases (until the reaction stops), and the remaining methane remains in the air for hundreds of years, itself becoming a cause of global warming. And these hundreds of years are enough to warm up the atmosphere, melt the ice in the oceans and change the entire climate system.

The main anthropogenic sources of methane are digestive fermentation in livestock, rice growing, and biomass burning (including deforestation). Recent studies have shown that a rapid increase in atmospheric methane concentrations occurred in the first millennium AD (presumably as a result of the expansion of agricultural and livestock production and forest burning). Between 1000 and 1700, methane concentrations fell by 40%, but began to rise again in recent centuries (presumably as a result of the expansion of arable land and pastures and forest burning, the use of wood for heating, increased numbers of livestock, sewage, and rice cultivation) . Some contribution to the supply of methane comes from leaks during the development of coal and natural gas deposits, as well as the emission of methane as part of biogas generated at waste disposal sites

Carbon dioxide

Sources of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere are volcanic emissions, vital activity of organisms, and human activity. Anthropogenic sources include the combustion of fossil fuels, the burning of biomass (including deforestation), and some industrial processes (for example, cement production). The main consumers of carbon dioxide are plants. Normally, the biocenosis absorbs approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide as it produces (including through biomass decay).

The influence of carbon dioxide on the intensity of the greenhouse effect.

Much still needs to be learned about the carbon cycle and the role of the world's oceans as a vast reservoir of carbon dioxide. As mentioned above, every year humanity adds 7 billion tons of carbon in the form of CO 2 to the existing 750 billion tons. But only about half of our emissions - 3 billion tons - remain in the air. This can be explained by the fact that most CO 2 is used by terrestrial and marine plants, buried in marine sediments, absorbed by seawater, or otherwise absorbed. Of this large portion of CO 2 (about 4 billion tons), the ocean absorbs about two billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide each year.

All this increases the number of unanswered questions: How exactly does sea water interact with atmospheric air, absorbing CO 2? How much more carbon can the seas absorb, and what level of global warming might affect their capacity? What is the capacity of the oceans to absorb and store heat trapped by climate change?

The role of clouds and suspended particles in air currents called aerosols is not easy to take into account when building a climate model. Clouds shade the earth's surface, leading to cooling, but depending on their height, density and other conditions, they can also trap heat reflected from the earth's surface, increasing the intensity of the greenhouse effect. The effect of aerosols is also interesting. Some of them modify water vapor, condensing it into small droplets that form clouds. These clouds are very dense and obscure the Earth's surface for weeks. That is, they block sunlight until they fall with precipitation.

The combined effect can be enormous: the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatuba in the Philippines released a colossal volume of sulfates into the stratosphere, causing a worldwide drop in temperature that lasted two years.

Thus, our own pollution, mainly caused by burning sulfur-containing coal and oils, may temporarily offset the effects of global warming. Experts estimate that aerosols reduced the amount of warming by 20% during the 20th century. In general, temperatures have been rising since the 1940s, but have fallen since 1970. The aerosol effect may help explain the anomalous cooling in the middle of the last century.

In 2006, carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere amounted to 24 billion tons. A very active group of researchers argues against the idea that human activity is one of the causes of global warming. In her opinion, the main thing is the natural processes of climate change and increased solar activity. But, according to Klaus Hasselmann, head of the German Climatological Center in Hamburg, only 5% can be explained by natural causes, and the remaining 95% is a man-made factor caused by human activity.

Some scientists also do not connect the increase in CO 2 with an increase in temperature. Skeptics say that if rising temperatures are to be blamed on rising CO 2 emissions, temperatures must have risen during the post-war economic boom, when fossil fuels were burned in huge quantities. However, Jerry Mallman, director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, calculated that increased use of coal and oils rapidly increased the sulfur content in the atmosphere, causing cooling. After 1970, the thermal effect of the long life cycles of CO 2 and methane suppressed rapidly decaying aerosols, causing temperatures to rise. Thus, we can conclude that the influence of carbon dioxide on the intensity of the greenhouse effect is enormous and undeniable.

However, the increasing greenhouse effect may not be catastrophic. Indeed, high temperatures may be welcome where they are quite rare. Since 1900, the greatest warming has been observed from 40 to 70 0 northern latitude, including Russia, Europe, and the northern part of the United States, where industrial emissions of greenhouse gases began earliest. Most of the warming occurs at night, primarily due to increased cloud cover, which traps outgoing heat. As a result, the sowing season was extended by a week.

Moreover, the greenhouse effect may be good news for some farmers. High concentrations of CO 2 can have a positive effect on plants because plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, converting it into living tissue. Therefore, more plants mean more absorption of CO 2 from the atmosphere, slowing down global warming.

This phenomenon was studied by American specialists. They decided to create a model of the world with double the amount of CO 2 in the air. To do this, they used fourteen-year-old pine forest in Northern California. Gas was pumped through pipes installed among the trees. Photosynthesis increased by 50-60%. But the effect soon became the opposite. The suffocating trees could not cope with such volumes of carbon dioxide. The advantage in the process of photosynthesis was lost. This is another example of how human manipulation leads to unexpected results.

But these small positive aspects of the greenhouse effect cannot be compared with the negative ones. Take, for example, the experience with a pine forest, where the volume of CO 2 was doubled, and by the end of this century the concentration of CO 2 is predicted to quadruple. One can imagine how catastrophic the consequences could be for plants. And this, in turn, will increase the volume of CO 2, since the fewer plants, the greater the concentration of CO 2.

Consequences of the greenhouse effect

greenhouse effect gases climate

As temperatures rise, the evaporation of water from oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. will increase. Since warmer air can hold more water vapor, this creates a powerful feedback effect: the warmer it gets, the higher the water vapor content in the air, which in turn increases the greenhouse effect.

Human activity has little effect on the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. But we emit other greenhouse gases, which makes the greenhouse effect more and more intense. Scientists believe that increasing CO 2 emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels, explain at least about 60% of the Earth's warming since 1850. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing by about 0.3% per year, and is now about 30% higher than before the industrial revolution. If we express this in absolute terms, then every year humanity adds approximately 7 billion tons. Despite the fact that this is a small part in relation to the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - 750 billion tons, and even smaller compared to the amount of CO 2 contained in the World Ocean - approximately 35 trillion tons, it remains very significant. Reason: natural processes are in equilibrium, such a volume of CO 2 enters the atmosphere, which is removed from there. And human activity only adds CO 2.