Green house means a building made of glass, with heat and humidity regulated by plants. Atmosphere, like glass some of the long wave radiation emitted by earth and radiates the energy back to the earth. A green house is that body which allows the short wavelength incoming solar radiation to come in, but does not allow the long wavelength outgoing terrestrial infra red radiation to escape.
In a similar way, the earth’s atmosphere bottles up the energy of the sun, and acts like a green house where CO2 acts as glass windows. CO2 and water vapours in the atmosphere transmit short wavelength solar radiation but reflect the longer wavelength heat radiatons from warmed surface of the earth. So they trap and re-enforce the solar heat stimulating an effect which is popularly known as green house effect. It is defined as follows:
• Green house effect is progressive warming up of the earth’s surface due to blanketing effect of manmade CO2 in the atmosphere.
• Green house effect is the phenomenon due to which the earth retains heat.
• Green house effect means the excessive presence of CO2, CH4, N2O, CFCs etc. Blocked in the IR radiation from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere leading to an increase in temperature, which in turn would make life difficult on earth.
How the green house effect is produced?
Under normal concentrations of CO2, the temperature of the earth surface is maintained by the energy balance of the sun rays that strike the earth and the heat that is radiated back into the outer space. However, when concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere radiated back into the outer space.