The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
The greenhouse effect describes the natural process by which the Earth's surface temperature is warmed. Solar radiation enters the Earth's atmosphere and is absorbed by clouds and the Earth. This warms the Earths surface. Some of this heat is then emitted back into the atmosphere in longwave radiation. Some of this outgoing heat is trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases (the main greenhouse gas being carbon dioxide), which then reflect the heat back to the Earth's surface. It is estimated that without this process the Earth's surface temperature would be between 30 and 33 degrees Celsius cooler.
Enhanced Greenhouse Effects
Global warming occurs when there are greater amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This causes more outgoing heat to be trapped and reflected back to the Earth which in turn raises surface temperature. This rise in surface temperature impacts on normal weather patterns of the Earth. Since the industrial revolution in the 19th Century, more greenhouse gasses have been emitted into the atmosphere, rapidly increasing the greenhouse effect and causing global warming. Global warming is expected to result in a rise in the Earth's average surface temperature of between 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius between 1990 and 2100 with significant impacts on weather patterns and sea levels.
Contributors to Global Warming
Stationary energy is by far Australia's biggest contributor to global warming accounting for some 50% of all emmissions. Other major contributors based on Australian industry sectors include:
The above breakdown was sourced from www.greenhouse.gov.au
