Greenhouse effect feedback

Against the backdrop of an Earth warmed by its own greenhouse effect, other forces operate that can increase or decrease the retention of heat by the atmosphere. Some of these forces are of human origin, some are produced by nature, and some are produced by mutual feedback reactions. 

CFC-12. These manmade chemicals absorb infrared radiation in a part of the spectrum where water vapor and CO2 do not already have strong bands. On the other hand, the manmade increase of CO2 is so large (currently ca. 25% since the mid-1800s - see Chapter 11) that it is the largest anthropogenic input to the greenhouse effect (not counting feedbacks). 

Another family of feedbacks involving biota arise via the process of evapotranspiration in which the rate of water vapor is transferred from the land surface to the atmosphere is mediated by plants. Several consequences have been proposed that include influences of biota on the greenhouse effect of water vapor as well as relative humidity and clouds. Lovelock (1988) suggested that tropical forests might be kept cool by increasing cloud cover in response to higher relative humidity released through enhanced evapotranspiration (via the clouds influences on albedo). Yet another connection arises because tree-covered land has different turbulence properties above it than bare soil, which also influences the cloud cover above. 

Since feedbacks may have a large potential for control of albedo and therefore temperature, it seems necessary to highlight them as targets for study and research. Besides the simple example above of cloud area or cloud extent, there are others that can be identified. High-altitude ice clouds, for example, (cirrus) have both an albedo effect and a greenhouse effect. Their occurrence is very sensitive to the amount of water vapor in the upper troposphere and to the thermal structure of the atmosphere. There may also be missing feedbacks. 

Water vapour makes a sizeable contribution, and probably the largest, to radiation trapping and as the temperature increases the water vapour concentration increases. Temperature rises as a result of increased water vapour concentration and hence a mechanism for a positive feedback in the greenhouse effect that might lead to a runaway greenhouse effect. When the vapour pressure for water reaches saturation, condensation occurs and water rains out of the atmosphere this is what happens on Earth and Mars. On Venus, however, the water vapour pressure never saturates and no precipitation occurs and the global warming continues to increase. Thus Venus suffers from extreme temperatures produced by both its proximity to the Sun and the presence of water vapour and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere. 

Greenhouse effect Greenhouse gases Absorption of 1R radiation Feedback mechanisms Climate predictions... 

H20 Greenhouse Feedback. As the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) warms, it can hold more water vapor. The enhanced water vapor traps more IR radiation and amplifies the greenhouse effect. Ramanathan [36] indicates that, based on studies with one-dimensional climate models, this feedback amplifies the air temperature by a factor of about 1.5 and the surface warming by a factor of about 3. The IPCC [23] determined a surface temperature amplification factor of 1.6 for water vapor feedback. 

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