16th February 2024
Greenhouse gases is a collective name for all the gases that cause the greenhouse effect – including water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and others. The greenhouse gas effects describes how these gases create an insulating layer in the atmosphere that keeps heat in. Without some degree of insulation like this, the world would be a very cold environment and would not support the life forms we currently have. Gases like water vapour and carbon dioxide, for example, occur naturally as plants and creatures breathe. Greenhouse gases become a problem for use when they become excessive, trapping in more heat that destabilises the earth’s systems.
Too much carbon dioxide is a particular problem because once in the atmosphere it stays there for thousands of years. Whilst on the hand methane has a life of only 12 years but in that short time the warming effect it causes is far greater than that of carbon dioxide.
The Green Tau 