A recent study reveals the actual effects of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, have on the surface temperature of our planet.
According to the findings, the greenhouse effect is caused by climate change is affecting our environment worse than it was previously believed.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The scientists measured the capacity of the atmospheric carbon dioxide of absorbing the heat the Earth releases, over a period of 11 years.
Research revealed that when large amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere, this leads to what it’s known as a greenhouse gas effect.
This makes the heat, that would in other circumstances dissipate into outer space, to be trapped by a “blanket” made of gases in the atmosphere that is known to absorb it.
Researchers explain that this is the first time they actually see how the process works, which made them to confirm the predictions of the climate model.
Daniel Feldman, one of the researchers who took part in the study, explained that this is the first time they witnessed the effects of the greenhouse. These effects are amplified because there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to absorb what our planet emits as a response to the radiation coming from the sun.
According to Feldman, there are many studies suggesting that the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has gone up in recent years.
But the new study reveals that there is an important link between the CO2 concentrations and the greenhouse effect. Daniel Feldman is a lead scientist at the Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division.
The researchers made these observations in two North American locations: one in Oklahoma, while the other was on Alaska’s North Slope.
The study began in 2000 and lasted until the end of 2010 and the researchers measured the atmospheric carbon dioxide’s contribution to radiation forces at both locations.
According to their findings, CO2 is responsible for a significant increase in the radioactive forcing at both research sites.
The findings of the new study were published in the journal Nature.
Image Source: earthtimes
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