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Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a specific time period, relative to carbon dioxide (CO 2). [1]: 2232 It is expressed as a multiple of warming caused by the same mass of carbon dioxide (CO 2). Therefore, by definition CO 2 has a GWP of 1.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 6 March 2025. Gas in an atmosphere with certain absorption characteristics This article is about the physical properties of greenhouse gases. For how human activities are adding to greenhouse gases, see Greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases trap some of the heat that results when sunlight heats the ...
So, the principle that a larger greenhouse effect corresponds to a higher surface temperature, if everything else (i.e., the factors that determine ) is held fixed, is true as a matter of definition. Note that the greenhouse effect influences the temperature of the planet as a whole, in tandem with the planet's tendency to move toward radiative ...
Radiative forcing is defined in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report as follows: "The change in the net, downward minus upward, radiative flux (expressed in W/m 2) due to a change in an external driver of climate change, such as a change in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2), the concentration of volcanic aerosols or the output of the Sun." [3]: 2245
Earth constantly absorbs energy from sunlight and emits thermal radiation as infrared light. In the long run, Earth radiates the same amount of energy per second as it absorbs, because the amount of thermal radiation emitted depends upon temperature: If Earth absorbs more energy per second than it radiates, Earth heats up and the thermal radiation will increase, until balance is restored; if ...
The findings are presented in units of global warming potential per unit of electrical energy generated by that source. The scale uses the global warming potential unit, the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e), and the unit of electrical energy, the kilowatt hour (kWh). The goal of such assessments is to cover the full life of the source, from ...
The vibrational and rotational excited states of greenhouse gases that emit thermal infrared radiation are in LTE up to about 60 km. [7] Radiative transfer calculations show negligible change (0.2%) due to absorption and emission above about 50 km. Schwarzschild's equation therefore is appropriate for most problems involving thermal infrared in ...
The idealized greenhouse model is based on the fact that certain gases in the Earth's atmosphere, including carbon dioxide and water vapour, are transparent to the high-frequency solar radiation, but are much more opaque to the lower frequency infrared radiation leaving Earth's surface.