Greenhouse Gases - AP Environmental Science

Chemical fertilizers are produced to fix nitrogen for farmers' fields, and while fields naturally lose nitrogen to the atmosphere in the form of , increased abundance of fixed nitrogen results in more being released. Feedlots produce large quantities of nitrogen-rich animal waste, which also decays and enters the atmosphere in massive quantities.

The greenhouse effect occurs as the temperature within the Earth's atmosphere rises. Greenhouse gases trap the heat within the Earth's atmosphere. As sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, it passes through the gaseous layer and the Earth's surface absorbs part of the energy and reflects some energy. These reflected rays of energy get trapped between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere. Some common greenhouse gasses include: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and tropospheric ozone. Helium and nitrogen are two gases in the atmosphere, but they do not contribute to the greenhouse effect.

The variance of annual levels can be accounted for by a combination of both the tilt of the Earth on its axis by as well as the revolution of the Earth around the sun. These two factors in conjunction with one another create the seasons. Since the Northern Hemisphere has vastly more plant coverage compared to the Southern Hemisphere, the Earth can uptake more carbon dioxide during the summer and spring seasons due to high levels of photosynthesis; however, when the Northern Hemisphere is in fall and winter, many of its plants cannot photosynthesize, leading to a spike in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The Northern hemisphere has a much larger basal area comparatively to that of the Southern hemisphere. When the Northern hemisphere is in winter, many of its plants are not able to photosynthesize, therefore the global levels rise due to much fewer plants actively uptaking that for their photosynthetic processes. By the same token, when the Northern hemisphere is experiencing spring and summer, the carbon dioxide levels fall due to higher photosynthetic activity.

The only gas in these selections that is made only by man is , which is a CFC or Chlorofluorocarbon. , methane, can be produced by many other organisms; a key example of this are cows. , or water vapor, has many natural origins such as bodies of water, and finally also has natural sources like volcanoes.

Methane gas produced by livestock is a very potent greenhouse gas, with molecules that trap far more heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. When methane is burned, carbon dioxide and water vapor are released into the atmosphere, but these vapors have a relatively benign impact on global warming when compared to the release of methane, had it not been used as fuel. Therefore, harvesting methane gas from agricultural waste and livestock prevents potent greenhouse gases from escaping into the atmosphere and also reduces dependence on energy derived from fossil fuels.

All of these greenhouses gasses, except , occur naturally in the environment. was produced by humans and was commonly known as Freon-12. It was marketed as a manmade refrigerant and aerosol propellant.

Chlorofluorocarbons, aka CFCs, are nontoxic, nonflammable chemicals containing atoms of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. They are used in the production of aerosol sprays, foams and packing materials, as solvents, and as refrigerants. Though mostly inert in the lower atmosphere, that low reactivity affords CFCs a lifespan that can exceed 100 years, giving them time to diffuse into the upper atmosphere and stratosphere. Once in the stratosphere, the sun's ultraviolet (or thermal) radiation is strong enough to cause the cleavage of the bond, making it an active ozone reducer. Furthermore, CFCs absorb and emit absorb and emit infrared radiation in the wavelength range emitted by Earth, make them potent greenhouse gases.