Example of Greenhouse gases | Greenhouse gases and their sources | Environmental science

The process of trapping of radiation by the earth’s atmosphere is called greenhouse effect. By this process the warming of the earth takes place. Without this process, life would not have been possible on earth. But now it threatens life.

Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and CFCs are called greenhouse gases because they all contribute towards this effect.

Carbon dioxide is one of the components of air. As the amount of carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere due to which more greenhouse effect takes place. As a result, the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere is gradually increasing. This is called global warming.

GREEN HOUSES GASES AND THEIR MAJOR SOURCES

Gases	Major Sources
CO2	Incomplete fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, reparation. The concentration of atmospheric CO2 has been increasing steadily during the past several decades. It has increased by 25% since 1850.
CH4	Wetlands, paddy fields, garbage heaps, anaerobic decomposition of organic wastes. The concentration CH4 in the atmosphere has considerably increased during the past few decades. The global warming potential of CH4 is nearly eleven times greater than that of CO2.
N2O	Natural soils, fertilizers, fossil fuels combustion, burning forests, grasslands, oceans. The global warming potential of N2O is nearly 270 times greater that that of CO2. Its concentration has drastically increased during the immediate past. N2O is stable gas and an ozone destroyer, with a n average life span of 150 years.
O3	Photochemical reactions in troposphere, diffusion from troposphere.
CFC-11	Manufacture of foams, aerosol propellant, etc. The global warming potential of CFCs, in general is 1600-15000 times higher than that of CO2.
CFC-12	Refrigerant, aerosol propellant, manufacture of foams.
CFC-13	Electronic solvent.
HCFC-22	Refrigerant, production of fluoropolymers.
CH3CCl3	Industrial degreasing solvent.
CCl4	Intermediate product in the production CFC-11, CFC-12 etc.