2.

The ‘Greenhouse Effect’

and the
‘Enhanced Greenhouse
Effect’
 What controls climate?
 Energy from the Sun – Radiation
SUN  Consider the 4 inner planets of the solar system:
Relative
Distance Mercury Venus Earth Mars
from Sun
0.39 0.72 1 1.5

Scales with
Receives
2250 W m-2 660 W m-2 342 W m-2 150 W m-2
1
distance2 solar radiation
 Planetary Albedo
 A fraction of the incoming solar radiation (S) is
reflected back into space, the rest is absorbed
by the planet. Each planet has a different
reflectivity, or albedo (α):
 Earth α = 0.31 (31% reflected, 69% absorbed)
 Mars α = 0.15
 Venus α = 0.59
 Mercury α = 0.1
 Net incoming solar radiation = S(1 - α)
 One possible way of changing Earth’s climate
is by changing its albedo.
Land has
higher
albedo than
ocean

Clouds have
high albedo

Ice and snow

have high
albedo
Christmas fires in Sydney 2001/2002
Smoke aerosol
more reflective
than ocean
 Radiative Equilibrium
 Each planet must balance net incoming solar
radiation with outgoing radiation, determined by its
temperature.
 Stefan-Boltzmann Law:
 “A body at temperature T radiates energy at a rate
proportional to T4 ” (T in Kelvin)
 Balance incoming and outgoing radiation:
Net incoming radiation=Outgoing radiation
S(1-α) = σ T4
(σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant = 5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4)
 Temperature of the inner planets
¼
S(1- α)
S(1-α) = σ T4
(σ = 5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4)
Rearranging: T =
{ σ } T(°C) = T(K) - 273

Relative Solar Albedo Net solar Equilib Actual

distance radiation (α) radiation -rium surface
(S) W m-2 S(1- α) T (°C) T (°C)

Mercury 0.39 2250 0.1 180

Venus 0.72 660 0.59 453

Earth 1 342 0.31 236 -19 15

Mars 1.5 150 0.15 -43

 Temperature of the inner planets
¼
S(1- α)
S(1-α) = σ T4
(σ = 5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4)
Rearranging: T =
{ σ } T(°C) = T(K) - 273

Relative Solar Albedo Net solar Equilib Actual

distance radiation (α) radiation -rium surface
(S) W m-2 S(1- α) T (°C) T (°C)

Mercury 0.39 2250 0.1 2025 162 180

Just about agrees
Venus 0.72 660 0.59 271 -10 453
Disagrees badly
Earth 1 342 0.31 236 -19 15
Disagrees
Mars 1.5 150 0.15 128 -55 -43
Nearly agrees
 The ‘Greenhouse Effect’
 Radiative equilibrium works for Mercury (no atmosphere) and just
about for Mars (thin atmosphere)
 The disagreement for Venus and the Earth is because these two
planets have atmospheres containing certain gases which modify
their surface temperatures.
 This is the ‘Greenhouse Effect’ in action:
Earth’s surface is 34°C warmer than if there were no atmosphere
Venus has a ‘runaway’ Greenhouse effect, and is over 400°C
warmer
Mars atmosphere slightly warms its surface, by about 10°C
• The existence of the Greenhouse Effect is universally accepted (it
is not controversial), and it links the composition of a planet’s
atmosphere to its surface temperature.
Earth’s Climate
System About 31%
reflected Sun
into space
Solar
radiation
Terrestrial
radiation
Atmosphere
69% absorbed at surface

Land Ocean Ice

Sub-surface Earth
Earth’s Energy Balance
Enhanced greenhouse effect

Terrestrial To get same

More greenhouse amount of net
radiation
gases, more radiation, need
higher surface
radiation absorbed
temperatures

Extract and burn fossil fuels

add CO2 to atmosphere
 Composition of the Atmosphere
Nitrogen N2 78.084%
Oxygen O2 20.948%
Argon Ar 0.934%
 Carbon Dioxide CO2 0.036% (360 ppmv)
 Methane CH4 1.7 ppmv
Hydrogen H2 0.55 ppmv
 Nitrous Oxide N2O 0.31 ppmv
 Ozone O3 10-500 ppbv (troposphere)
0.5-10 ppmv (stratosphere)
 Water H2O 100 pptv – 4%

Greenhouse A greenhouse gas is one that absorbs terrestrial (LW)

Gases radiation, i.e. emitted from the Earth’s surface/atmosphere
Rising levels of CO2, N2O, and CH4 as a result of human activity

Aerosols
also from
human
activity

14
 Aerosols
 Clumps of molecules – typically of order 1 micron (1 μm = 10-6 m) in
diameter, e.g., ‘sulphate aerosol’, formed when SO2 is oxidised.
 Main effect is to reflect incoming solar radiation – effectively increasing
albedo (e.g. Sydney fires image earlier)
 Haze in the atmosphere is due to aerosols – most aerosols are directly
linked to air pollution (but also natural sources, e.g. volcanoes)
 Generally have a cooling influence on climate – they act to offset the
warming from greenhouse gases
 Aerosols have short residence times in the atmosphere (days). This
means they are not well-mixed through the atmosphere (unlike, e.g.,
CO2). So aerosols are mainly found close to their sources (e.g., over
industrialised countries).
 Aerosol impact on climate is much more uncertain than the effect of
greenhouse gases
 Measures to reduce air pollution (e.g., SO2), are removing the cooling
influence of aerosols, i.e. adding to the warming from GHGs
 Warming from
increases
in greenhouse
gases

General cooling
from increases
in aerosols –
but high uncertainty

IPCC(2007)
The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
Solar (S) and longwave (L) radiation in Wm-2 at the top of the atmosphere

S L S L S L S L
236 236 236 232 236 236 236 236

T = -18°C CO2 x 2
+ Feedbacks
H2O (+60%)
CO2 x 2 CO2 x 2 Ice/Albedo (+20%)
Cloud?
Ocean?

TS = 15°C TS = 15°C DTS ~ 1.2K DTS ~ 2.5K

 Summary 2 (Greenhouse Effect…)
 Radiation from the Sun drives our climate
 Our distance from the Sun, and the reflectivity of the Earth
determines how much radiation is absorbed
 Earth’s atmosphere traps outgoing radiation (the Greenhouse
Effect), warming the surface by about 34°C
 On Venus, a runaway Greenhouse Effect warms its surface by
over 400°C; Mars thin atmosphere warms its surface by about
10°C
 So there is good evidence from the other planets that the
atmospheric composition is important in determining the surface
temperature
 Global Warming is often called ‘The Greenhouse Effect’ – really it
is the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect – the addition of more
Greenhouse Gases (mainly from burning fossil fuels) to the
atmosphere enhances the existing effect.
 Humans have also changed the Earth’s albedo – mainly by adding
aerosols to the atmosphere – these tend to cool climate, offsetting
the GHG warming