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For anyone who needs clear, detailed, well-evidenced information about global warming, this is an outstandingly useful book. ‘. . . an excellent basis for students and non-scientists to understand climate change with its manifold impacts and consequences for humankind and for our common planet.
Request a sample or learn about ordering options for Environmental Chemistry, 5th Edition by Colin Baird from the Macmillan Learning Instructor Catalog.
This effect is called the greenhouse effect, and these heat-trapping gases are called greenhouse gases. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that makes the Earth liveable for humans: without the natural greenhouse effect, the global average temperature would be about 33ºC (59°F) colder.
There are two main ways to stop the amount of greenhouse gases from increasing: we can stop adding them to the air, and we can increase the Earth’s ability to pull them out of the air. Doing both will help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Broadly speaking, there are three strategies: Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, compensate for them through climate engineering, and adapt to climate change.
The author goes on to describe the increasingly sophisticated climate models and the great differences between them and models for meteorological forecasting. Houghton also explores the impacts expected as the climate warms, including the actions and technologies that might limit those changes.
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT. We examine in this chapter the role played by atmospheric gases in controlling the temperature of the Earth. The main source of heat to the Earth is solar energy, which is transmitted from the Sun to the Earth by radiation and is converted to heat at the Earth’s surface.
