The “greenhouse effect” often gets a bad rap because of its association with global

warming, but the truth is we couldn’t live without it.

What Causes the Greenhouse Effect?

Life on earth depends on energy from the sun. About 30 percent of the sunlight that
beams toward Earth is deflected by the outer atmosphere and scattered back into space.
The rest reaches the planet’s surface and is reflected upward again as a type of slow-
moving energy called infrared radiation.

As it rises, infrared radiation is absorbed by “greenhouse gases” such as water vapor,

carbon dioxide, ozone and methane, which slows its escape from the atmosphere.

Although greenhouse gases make up only about 1 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere, they
regulate our climate by trapping heat and holding it in a kind of warm-air blanket that
surrounds the planet.

This phenomenon is what scientists call the "greenhouse effect." Without it, scientists
estimate that the average temperature on Earth would be colder by approximately 30
degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit), far too cold to sustain our current ecosystem.

How Do Humans Contribute to the Greenhouse Effect?

While the greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth,
there really can be too much of a good thing.

The problems begin when human activities distort and accelerate the natural process by
creating more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than are necessary to warm the planet
to an ideal temperature.

• Burning natural gas, coal and oil —including gasoline for automobile engines
—raises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• Some farming practices and land-use changes increase the levels of methane
and nitrous oxide.
• Many factories produce long-lasting industrial gases that do not occur
naturally, yet contribute significantly to the enhanced greenhouse effect and
“global warming” that is currently under way.
• Deforestation also contributes to global warming. Trees use carbon dioxide and
give off oxygen in its place, which helps to create the optimal balance of gases in
the atmosphere. As more forests are logged for timber or cut down to make way
for farming, however, there are fewer trees to perform this critical function.
• Population growth is another factor in global warming, because as more people
use fossil fuels for heat, transportation and manufacturing the level of greenhouse
gases continues to increase. As more farming occurs to feed millions of new
people, more greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere.
Ultimately, more greenhouse gases means more infrared radiation trapped and held,
which gradually increases the temperature of the Earth’s surface and the air in the lower
atmosphere.

The Average Global Temperature is Increasing Quickly

Today, the increase in the Earth’s temperature is increasing with unprecedented speed. To
understand just how quickly global warming is accelerating, consider this:

During the entire 20th century, the average global temperature increased by about 0.6
degrees Celsius (slightly more than 1 degree Fahrenheit).

Using computer climate models, scientists estimate that by the year 2100 the average
global temperature will increase by 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius (approximately 2.5
degrees to 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

Not All Scientists Agree

While the majority of mainstream scientists agree that global warming is a serious
problem that is growing steadily worse, there are some who disagree. John Christy, a
professor and director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama
in Huntsville is a respected climatologist who argues that global warming isn’t worth
worrying about.

Christy reached that opinion after analyzing millions of measurements from weather
satellites in an effort to find a global temperature trend. He found no sign of global
warming in the satellite data, and now believes that predictions of global warming by as
much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st century are incorrect.

What are the effects of global warming and the greenhouse effect?

Scientists agree that even a small increase in the global temperature would lead to
significant climate and weather changes, affecting cloud cover, precipitation, wind
patterns, the frequency and severity of storms, and the duration of seasons.

• Rising temperatures would raise sea levels as well, reducing supplies of fresh
water as flooding occurs along coastlines worldwide and salt water reaches
inland.
• Many of the world’s endangered species would become extinct as rising
temperatures changed their habitat.
• Millions of people also would be affected, especially poor people who live in
precarious locations or depend on the land for a subsistence living.
• Certain vector-borne diseases carried by animals or insects, such as malaria,
would become more widespread as warmer conditions expanded their range.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions are the Biggest Problem

Currently, carbon dioxide accounts for more than 60 percent of the enhanced greenhouse
effect caused by the increase of greenhouse gases, and the level of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere is increasing by more than 10 percent every 20 years.

If emissions of carbon dioxide continue to grow at current rates, then the level of the gas
in the atmosphere will likely double, or possibly even triple, from pre-industrial levels
during the 21st century.

Climate Changes are Inevitable

According to the United Nations, some climate change is already inevitable because of
emissions that have occurred since the dawn of the Industrial Age.

While the Earth’s climate does not respond quickly to external changes, many scientists
believe that global warming already has significant momentum due to 150 years of
industrialization in many countries around the world. As a result, global warming will
continue to affect life on Earth for hundreds of years, even if greenhouse gas emissions
are reduced and the increase in atmospheric levels halted.

What is Being Done to Reduce Global Warming?

To lessen those long-term effects, many nations, communities and individuals are taking
action now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming by reducing
dependence on fossil fuels, increasing the use of renewable energy, expanding forests,
and making lifestyle choices that help to sustain the environment.

Whether they will be able to recruit enough people to join them, and whether their
combined efforts will be enough to head off the most serious effects of global warming,
are open questions that can only be answered by future developments.

What do “greenhouse effect” and “global warming” mean? And how do humans
contribute to the problem?

Infrared (IR) active gases, principally water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and
ozone (O3), naturally present in the Earth’s atmosphere, absorb thermal IR radiation
emitted by the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. The atmosphere is warmed by this
mechanism and, in turn, emits IR radiation, with a significant portion of this energy
acting to warm the surface and the lower atmosphere. As a consequence the average
surface air temperature of the Earth is about 30° C higher than it would be without
atmospheric absorption and reradiation of IR energy [Henderson-Sellers and Robinson,
1986; Kellogg, 1996; Peixoto and Oort, 1992].

This phenomenon is popularly known as the “greenhouse effect,” and the IR active gases
responsible for the effect are likewise referred to as “greenhouse gases.” The rapid
increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases since the industrial period began has given
rise to concern over potential resultant climate changes.

The AGU Council approved a position statement on Climate Change and Greenhouse
Gases in December 1998. The statement and a short summary of the procedures that were
followed in its preparation, review, and adoption were published in the February 2, 1999,
issue of Eos (p. 49) [AGU, 1999, also at AGU's Web site:
http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy/climate_change.html]. The present article reviews
scientific understanding of this issue, as presented in peer-reviewed publications. This
understanding serves as the underlying basis of the position statement.

Greenhouse Gases and the Earth-Atmosphere Energy Balance

The principal greenhouse gas concentrations that have increased over the industrial
period are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and
chlorofluorocarbons CFC-11 (CCl3F) and CFC-12 (CCl2F2) [Hansen et al., 1998; Schimel
et al., 1996]. The observed increase of CO2 in the atmosphere from about 280 ppm in the
preindustrial era to about 364 ppm in 1997 (Figure 1) [Friedli et al., 1986; Hansen et al.,
1998; Keeling and Whorf, 1998] has come largely from fossil fuel combustion and
cement production.

These sources amounted to approximately 6.5 Pg C/yr (1 Pg=1015 g) in 1996 [Marland et

al., 1999]. Land use changes produce a non-negligible but more uncertain contribution of
about 1.6 ± 1.0 Pg C/yr [Fan et al., 1998; Schimel et al., 1996]. These anthropogenic
sources of CO2 exceed the estimated uptake of CO2 by the atmosphere and oceans,
implying a significant but as yet unidentified terrestrial sink [Enting and Pearman, 1987].

The atmospheric concentration of CH4 has increased from about 700 ppb in preindustrial
times to about 1721 ppb in 1994 (Figure 1) [Houghton et al., 1996]. Fossil-fuel related
sources of CH4 amount to approximately 70-120 Tg CH4/yr (1 Tg=1012 g). Increases in
CH4 sources resulting from rice cultivation, animal husbandry, biomass burning, and
landfills contribute about 200 - 350 Tg CH4/yr [Schimel et al., 1996].

The atmospheric concentration of N2O has increased from about 275 ppb in preindustrial
times to about 312 ppb in 1994 (Figure 1) [Houghton et al., 1996]. Estimated
anthropogenic emissions of N2O for the 1980s range from 3 to 8 Tg N/yr [Houghton et
al., 1996]. The main anthropogenic sources are from agriculture and industrial sources
including adipic acid and nitric acid production [Schimel et al., 1996].

Chlorofluorocarbons CFC-12 and CFC-11 are manmade compounds that were not
appreciably present in the atmosphere before 1950 (Figure 1). These compounds have
been widely used as refrigerants and in spray propellants and foam blowing. Because of
their role in catalyzing decomposition of stratospheric ozone, production of these
compounds has been dramatically reduced in response to the Montreal Protocols and
subsequent international agreements. Atmospheric concentrations of these compounds
are expected to diminish substantially during the next century [Prather et al., 1996].

Prediction of the future persistence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

is based on mathematical models that simulate future additions and removals. The
greenhouse gas concentrations predicted by these models are subject to large
uncertainties in the effects of both natural processes and human activities.
For some greenhouse gases persistence can be estimated from “mean residence times,”
which are obtained with simple linear models and represent the time that would be
required for removal of 63% of the anthropogenic excess of the material in the
atmosphere, if anthropogenic sources were abruptly diminished to zero [Lasaga and
Berner, 1998]. This approach yields a rough measure of the persistence in the atmosphere
of anthropogenic additions of CH4 with an estimated mean residence time of 10 years
[Prather, 1996, 1998]; N2O, 100 years, [Prather, 1996, 1998]; and CFC-11 and CFC-12,
50 and 102 years, respectively [Prather et al., 1995].

The persistence of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere cannot be estimated with such a
simple model because exchange with the ocean and sediments leads to a more complex
behavior. Model simulations of oceanic CO2 uptake provide response times associated
with CO2 gas exchange at the ocean surface of approximately 10 years [Liss and
Merlivat, 1986; Toggweiler et al., 1989] and downward mixing of surface waters on the
order of decades to centuries [Maier-Reimer and Hasselmann, 1987; Sarmiento et al.,
1992]. But even when these oceanic CO2 removal processes are allowed sufficient time in
the models to reach their maximum capacity, they can remove only about 70 to 85% of
the anthropogenic CO2 added to the atmosphere [Archer et al., 1998; Broecker and Peng,
1982; Sarmiento et al., 1992].

Additional CO2 might be removed by burial in soils or deep sea sediments through
mechanisms that, although poorly understood, are generally believed to require times
extending to thousands of years [Harden et al., 1992; Schlesinger, 1990; Stallard, 1998].
Removing some of the anthropogenic CO2 by this mechanism may require reactions with
carbonate sediments in the deep sea that occur on timescales of thousands of years
[Archer et al., 1998; Boyle, 1983; Sundquist, 1990]. On the basis of such analyses, it is
now generally believed that a substantial fraction of the excess CO2 in the atmosphere
will remain in the atmosphere for decades to centuries, and about 15-30% will remain for
thousands of years

Greenhouse Basics

A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse or hothouse) is a building where plants are cultivated.

A greenhouse is a structure with a glass or plastic roof and frequently glass or plastic walls; it
heats up because incoming solar radiation from the sun warms plants, soil, and other things
inside the building. Air warmed by the heat from hot interior surfaces is retained in the building by
the roof and wall. These structures range in size from
small sheds to very large buildings.

Greenhouses can be divided into glass greenhouses

and in plastic greenhouses. Commercial glass
greenhouses are often high tech production facilities
for vegetables or flowers. The glass greenhouses are
filled with equipment like screening installations,
heating, cooling, lighting and may be automatically
controlled by a computer.

The glass used for a greenhouse works as a selective

transmission medium for different spectral frequencies,
and its effect is to trap energy within the greenhouse, which heats both the plants and the ground
inside it. This warms the air near the ground, and this air is prevented from rising and flowing
away. This can be demonstrated by opening a small window near the roof of a greenhouse: the
temperature drops considerably. This principle is the basis of the autovent automatic cooling
system. Greenhouses thus work by trapping electromagnetic radiation and preventing convection.
A miniature greenhouse is known as a cold frame.

Usage of Greenhouses

Greenhouses are often used for growing flowers, vegetables, fruits, and tobacco plants.
Bumblebees are the pollinators of choice for most greenhouse pollination, although other types of
bees have been used, as well as artificial pollination.This helps the plants to produce more plants
for future plantations.

Besides tobacco, many vegetables and flowers are grown in greenhouses in late winter and early
spring, and then transplanted outside as the weather warms. Started plants are usually available
for gardeners in farmers' markets at transplanting time.

The closed environment of a greenhouse has its own unique requirements, compared with
outdoor production. Pests and diseases, and extremes of heat and humidity, have to be
controlled, and irrigation is necessary to provide water. Significant inputs of heat and light may be
required, particularly with winter production of warm-weather vegetables. Special greenhouse
varieties of certain crops, like tomatoes, are generally used for commercial production.

Greenhouses are increasingly important in the food supply of

high latitude countries. The largest greenhouse complex in the
world is in Willcox, Arizona, USA where 262 acres of tomatoes
and cucumbers are entirely grown under glass.

Greenhouses protect crops from too much heat or cold, shield

plants from dust storms and blizzards, and help to keep out
pests. Light and temperature control allows greenhouses to
turn inarable land into arable land. Greenhouses can feed
starving nations where crops can't survive in the harsh deserts
and Arctic wastes. Hydroponics can be used in greenhouses as well to make the most use of the
interior space.

Biologist John Todd invented a greenhouse that turns sewage into water, through the natural
processes of bacteria, plants, and animals.

Greenhouse History

The idea of growing plants in environmentally controlled areas has existed since Roman times.
The Roman emperor Tiberius ate a cucumber-like vegetable daily. The Roman gardeners used
artificial methods (similar to the greenhouse system) of growing to have it available for his table
every day of the year. Cucumbers were planted in wheeled carts which were put in the sun daily,
then taken inside to keep them warm at night. The cucumbers were stored under frames or in
cucumber houses glazed with either oiled cloth known as "specularia" or with sheets of mica,
according to the description by Pliny the Elder.

The first modern greenhouses were built in Italy in the thirteenth century[4] to house the exotic
plants that explorers brought back from the tropics. They were originally called giardini botanici
(botanical gardens). The concept of greenhouses soon spread to the Netherlands and then
England, along with the plants. Some of these early attempts required enormous amounts of work
to close up at night or to winterize. There were serious problems with providing adequate and
balanced heat in these early greenhouses.
Jules Charles, a French botanist, is often credited with building the first practical modern
greenhouse in Leiden, Holland to grow medicinal tropical plants.

Originally on the estates of the rich, with the growth of

the science of botany greenhouses spread to the
universities. The French called their first greenhouses
orangeries, since they were used to protect orange
trees from freezing. As pineapples became popular
pineries, or pineapple pits, were built. Experimentation
with the design of greenhouses continued during the
Seventeenth Century in Europe as technology
produced better glass and construction techniques
improved. The greenhouse at the Palace of Versailles
was an example of their size and elaborateness; it was
more than 500 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 45 feet
high.

In the nineteenth Century the largest greenhouses were built. The conservatory at Kew Gardens
in England is a prime example of the Victorian greenhouse. Although intended for both
horticultural and non-horticultural exhibition these included London's Crystal Palace, the New
York Crystal Palace and Munich’s Glaspalast. Joseph Paxton, who had experimented with glass
and iron in the creation of large greenhouses as the head gardener at Chatsworth, in Derbyshire,
working for the Duke of Devonshire, designed and built the first, London's Crystal Palace. A major
architectural achievement in monumental greenhouse building were the Royal Greenhouses of
Laeken (1874-1895) for King Leopold II of Belgium.

In Japan, the first greenhouse was built in 1880 by Samuel Cocking, a British merchant who
exported herbs.

In the Twentieth Century the geodesic dome was added to the many types of greenhouses.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION IN COLD DESERT OF

INDIA: A SUCCESS STORY ON SOLAR
GREENHOUSES
Author: B. Singh
Keywords: Solar energy, greenhouse, cold desert, vegetables

Abstract:
India is having 74,809 km2 of cold desert area in states of Jammu & Kashmir and
Himachal Pradesh. The region is characterised by high altitude sandy mountains,
extremely low temperatures and short cropping season (May-September). It is difficult to
grow anything here in winter. Different greenhouse structures viz. glasshouse, polyhouse,
local mud polyhouse and trench (underground greenhouse) were evaluated for vegetable
production at Field Research Laboratory, Leh (Ladakh).

Data on maximum, minimum temperatures and crop yield were recorded in different
structures. Suitability of structures in terms of cost of cultivation and production of crops
was worked out. Higher diurnal temperature was observed in glasshouse as compared
with polyhouse. Higher night temperature was observed in trench followed by local mud
polyhouse. Growth of leafy vegetables was better in trench in comparison to other
structures. Polyhouses and trenches in Ladakh were found to help in raising early
nurseries of vegetables, production of early vegetable crops, extension of growing season
and vegetable production during frozen winter. Leafy vegetables can be cultivated in the
trenches and polyhouses in extreme winter when land gets frozen and nothing grows
outside. Trench has been found most efficient and economical greenhouse structure for
vegetable production.

B
make.
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