Greenhouse Gases & Human Activities

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and definitions related to greenhouse gases and their links to human activities, as discussed in the lecture.

Greenhouse Gases

Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect.

Water Vapour (H₂O)

Most abundant greenhouse gas; its concentration is primarily related to temperature.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

A greenhouse gas with both natural and anthropogenic sources

Methane (CH₄)

A greenhouse gas from natural sources like decomposing organic materials and anthropogenic sources like livestock raising.

Nitrous Oxide (N₂O)

A gas with natural sources from tropical soils and from fertilizers and vehicle exhausts.

Ground-level Ozone (O₃)

Produced by the reaction between sunlight and vehicle emissions

Halocarbons

Synthetic compounds with no natural sources, formed by industrial processes, known for breaking apart the ozone layer.

Anthropogenic Greenhouse Effect

Increase in greenhouse gases due to human activity, leading to global warming.

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

A measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere compared to CO₂ over a specific time period.

Carbon offsets & credits

Strategies to reduce carbon emissions by compensating for emitted carbon dioxide