New! SACE Stage 2 Chemistry Workbook 2nd edition

Tags

Top Highlights

• diatomic molecule

• egradation at high temperature

• her temperature

• reflected to space due to the albedo (reflectivity) of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere

• Land and sea ice, snow coverage and the clouds are all highly reflective

• 22% of the solar radiation reaching Earth is absorbed by the atmosphere

• greenhouse gases

• These molecules in turn reradiate the thermal radiation to other molecules in the atmosphere, into space, and back to the surface of the Earth.

• troposphere (the lower layer of the atmosphere)

• This naturally occurring process is referred to as the greenhouseeffect.

• The greenhouse effect serves to maintain a relatively stable average temperature of approximately 15°C, sustaining life on Earth.

• Greenhouse gases absorb thermal radiation in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• natural

• synthetic

• c sources

• Cycles in nature, such as the carboncycle, the water cycle and nitrogen cycle, are responsible for the formation of naturally occurring greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere.

• added to the concentrations of naturally occurring greenhouse gases

• thermal balance, with the amount of thermal radiation entering the atmosphere in equilibrium with the amount of thermal radiation emitted back into space

• As concentrations of greenhouse gases have risen due to anthropogenic activities, less thermal radiation is escaping the Earth, generating a thermal imbalance

• This resulting increase in temperature is referred to as global warming.