Tag: chemistry

On Earth, naturally occurring amounts of greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about $33^ \circ C$.

Global warming could result in wide ranging effects on rainfall patterns, agriculture, forests, plants and animals.

Argon is not a greenhouse gas because it is mostly transparent to the wavelengths of light that is responsible for trapping heat.

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. 

A greenhouse gas (sometimes abbreviated GHG) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. 

Black carbon consists of pure carbon in several linked forms. It is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel, and biomass, and is emitted in both anthropogenic and naturally occurring soot. Black carbon causes human morbidity and premature mortality.

The greenhouse effect is useful because trapping some energy keeps the temperatures on our planet mild and suitable for living things. Without its atmosphere and the greenhouse effect, the average temperature at the surface of the Earth would have been very low.

Increases in the different greenhouse gases have other effects apart from global warming, including ocean acidification (by acid rain), smog pollution (contaminated particles in air) and ozone depletion as well as changes to plant growth and nutrition levels.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), once used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants until they were phased out by international agreement, are also greenhouse gases. They damage the ozone layer of the atmosphere. 

Synthetic oil is a lubricant consisting of chemical compounds that are artificially made. Synthetic lubricants can be manufactured using chemically modified petroleum components rather than whole crude oil, but can also be synthesized from other raw materials. Full synthetic oils are derived from crude oil or byproducts through a chemical process rather than the distillation process used for conventional oil. The resulting synthetic oil has a more consistent molecular size and therefore tends to have somewhat more uniform properties.