Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change

What is the primary role of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, methane, and water vapor?

• Cooling the atmosphere

• Absorbing IR radiation from earth and trapping heat in the atmosphere

• Reflecting sunlight back into space

• Enhancing oxygen levels in the atmosphere

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How are human activities are leading to climate change?

• Human activities enhance the cooling effect of greenhouse gases.

• Human activities release more oxygen into the atmosphere.

• CO2 is added to the atmosphere faster than it can be naturally removed.

• Methane reacts with oxygen, contributing to climate stability.

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Why is water vapor mentioned as a crucial factor in the absorption of photons by greenhouse gases?

• It efficiently absorbs photons in the 15-micron IR range.

• It inhibits the absorption of photons by other greenhouse gases.

• It contributes to the cooling of the Earth's atmosphere.

• It reacts easily with oxygen, influencing the atmospheric lifetime.

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What happens to the photons absorbed by CO2 molecules?

• They are permanently trapped in the atmosphere.

• They are released back into space.

• They are released at random direction, some are returned to the Earth's atmosphere, trapping heat.

• They cause the greenhouse gas to disintegrate.

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Why is CO2 considered an important greenhouse gas out of all known GHGs?

• It efficiently reacts with oxygen.

• It has a short atmospheric lifetime.

• It absorbs IR photons at various wavelengths.

• It has a long atmospheric lifetime.

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Why do greenhouse gases absorb photons selectively, particularly in the case of CO2?

• They absorb all photons uniformly.

• They absorb sunlight with shorter wavelengths.

• They absorb infrared light with longer wavelengths.

• They absorb photons during the nighttime only.

In the process of the 'greenhouse effect,' what happens when photons hit a greenhouse gas molecule like CO2?

• Photons are absorbed, causing the molecule to release energy into space.

• Photons are absorbed, causing the bonds between atoms to vibrate and trap energy.

• Photons are reflected, preventing the warming of the atmosphere.

• Photons are converted into oxygen, contributing to the atmosphere.

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Why don't any of the Greenhouse Gases molecules in atmosphere absorb the light photons emitted from the sun?

• Because the molecules are too small to absorb the photons
• The re-emitted IR photons from earth at night are absorbed by the gases molecules on their way out to space.

• The photons emitted from the sun are too high in energy level to be absorbed on their way in.

• They do absorb the light photons from the sun, only in small quantities.

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Do all the IR photons absorbed by the greenhouse gases get re-emitted back towards earth?

• Yes, 100% of it are re-emitted back to earth.

• No, only some; as the greenhouse gases re-emit the IR photons in random direction and some are directed back to earth and some out to space,

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