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The absorption patterns of water vapor (blue peaks) and carbon dioxide (pink peaks) overlap in some wavelengths. [33] Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas overall, being responsible for 41–67% of the greenhouse effect, [31] [32] but its global concentrations are not
Longwave absorption coefficients of water vapor and carbon dioxide. For wavelengths near 15 microns (15 μm in top scale), where Earth's surface emits strongly, CO 2 is a much stronger absorber than water vapor. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit longwave radiation within specific ranges of wavelengths (organized as spectral lines or bands). [15]
Though the greenhouse effect is heavily driven by water vapor, [26] human emissions of water vapor are not a significant contributor to warming. Although CFCs are greenhouse gases, they are regulated by the Montreal Protocol which was motivated by CFCs' contribution to ozone depletion rather than by their contribution to global warming. Ozone ...
The Planck response is the additional thermal radiation objects emit as they get warmer. Whether Planck response is a climate change feedback depends on the context. In climate science the Planck response can be treated as an intrinsic part of warming that is separate from radiative feedbacks and carbon cycle feedbacks.
On Earth, carbon dioxide is the most relevant, direct greenhouse gas that is influenced by human activities. Water is responsible for most (about 36–70%) of the total greenhouse effect, and the role of water vapor as a greenhouse gas depends on temperature. Carbon dioxide is often mentioned in the context of its increased influence as a ...
Through this effect, a runaway feedback process may have removed much carbon dioxide and water vapor from the atmosphere and cooled the planet. Water condenses on the surface, leading to carbon dioxide dissolving and chemically binding to minerals. This reduced the greenhouse effect, lowering the temperature and causing more water to condense.
Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas [18] [19] owing to the presence of the hydroxyl bond which strongly absorbs in the infra-red. Water vapor is the "working medium" of the atmospheric thermodynamic engine which transforms heat energy from sun irradiation into mechanical energy in the form of winds.
This is consistent with greenhouse gases preventing heat from leaving the Earth's atmosphere. [104] Explosive volcanic eruptions can release gases, dust and ash that partially block sunlight and reduce temperatures, or they can send water vapor into the atmosphere, which adds to greenhouse gases and increases temperatures. [105]