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The greenhouse effect: a closer look
Author(s) -
Strangeways Ian
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.467
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1477-8696
pISSN - 0043-1656
DOI - 10.1002/wea.669
Subject(s) - citation , library science , computer science
Interest in carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (WV) as greenhouse gases (GHGs) has waxed and waned over 200 years, the twists and turns being neatly summarised by Mudge (1997). The early pioneers, Arrhenius, Tyndall, Fourier and Callendar, were mostly interested in CO2 from the standpoint of explaining ice ages. Today’s concerns are that increased amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere will cause Earth to warm up, possibly ‘disastrously’, over the next century. This article looks at the processes involved in the Greenhouse Effect (GHE), discusses the uncertainties, in particular the role of water vapour (WV), and reviews the overall situation.