1. The Greenhouse Effect - Atomic level By Kaelin O’Hare

2. Albedo  Albedo= the fraction of solar energy reflected from the Earth into space, or a measure of the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface -Ice and snow have a high albedo -Water has a low value of albedo  Clouds affect the Earth’s albedo too… - the more water in a cloud, the greater albedo it has  Annual global mean albedo on Earth= 30%

3. Greenhouse Effect  The Sun’s radiation encounters the Earth in short wavelengths of visible light  Some of the Sun’s radiation is reflected by clouds and atmosphere, but much is absorbed by the Earth  This absorbed heat is radiated outwards in longer infrared wavelengths and absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere  Thus the Earth is heated and kept warm enough for life

5. Greenhouse Gases  Main gases: Methane(CH4), Nitrous oxide(N2O), Carbon Dioxide(CO2), and Water(H2O)  Sources: -Methane= wetlands, landfills -Nitrous Oxide= lakes, tropical rainforests, agricultural soil management -Carbon Dioxide= lakes, fossil fuel emissions -Water= water sources, emissions from burning & processing fossil fuel  GHGs react to infrared radiation through the process of resonance -GHGs absorb infrared photons of different wavelengths, which cause their molecules to vibrate and create heat

8. Black-body Radiation  Black body: an object that has no albedo, and so absorbs all the radiation falling on it  Black-body Radiation: at a particular temperature, the black-body can emit the maximum amount of energy possible for that temperature -this makes it the perfect emitter

10. The Sun’s Radiation

13. Works Cited http://www.esr.org/outreach/glossary/albedo.ht ml http://www.atmosphere.mpg.de/enid/25w.html http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/en vironment/global-warming/gw-overview- interactive/ http://www.lakescientist.com/learn-about- lakes/lakes-climate-change/lakes-and- greenhouse-gases.html http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climat e/greenhouse_effect_gases.html http://zebu.uoregon.edu/disted/ph162/l4.html