The Big 5 greenhouse gases are: 1. Water Vapor 2. Ozone 3. Carbon dioxide 4. Nitrous Oxide 5. Methane The most important gas of all, out of the 5, is Water Vapor! Water vapor is the gas phase of water, so, why is it so important? The more water vapor in the atmosphere, the more energy from the sun is absorbed and heat is maintained in the atmosphere. The warmer the atmosphere, the more water vapor and so on creating a perfect balance between water and air. When there is more water vapor in the air, the air is more humid and plants grow better. Water vapor molecules radiate heat in all directions allowing heat to return to the surface of Earth, which gives us a second source of warmth...the first being the Sun's radiation. Water vapor condenses quickly during the winter, air becomes drier, temperatures become cooler and we have more precipitation like rain and snow. What would the world look like if there wasn't any water vapor? Some scientists speculate there would only be winds and temperature. During the heat of the day it would be windy and as the Sun set, the temperatures would cool and the winds would die down. There wouldn't be any clouds and climate would be the same everywhere...dry. Kind of like the North Pole and the South Pole. Freezing dry, and warm dry to hot dry. Pretty boring I would say...but then there are others who would love to go to Mars and never come back to Earth, so what do I know about what people like or don't like when it comes to climate and weather? The World is an interesting place! A water-less Earth would be so ordinary...like all the other rocky planets in the Solar System. I'm all for water!
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |