Krishnan's Blog

Chlorofluorocarbons, commonly known as CFCs, are a group of man-made compounds containing chlorine, fluorine and carbon. They are not found anywhere in nature. The production of CFCs began in the 1930s for the purpose of refrigeration. Since then they have been extensively utilised as propellants in aerosols, as blowing agents in foam manufacture and in air conditioning. There are no removal processes or sinks for CFCs in the lowest part of the atmosphere called the troposphere. As a result they are transported up into the stratosphere, between 10 to 50 km above the Earth's surface, where they are broken down by ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, releasing free chlorine atoms which cause significant ozone depletion . Although the amounts of CFCs in the atmosphere are very small, measured in parts per trillion (million million), they do contribute significantly to the enhancement of the natural greenhouse effect , because they are very good at trapping heat. Molecule for mo...

The Sun, which is the Earth's only external form of heat, emits solar radiation mainly in the form of shortwave visible and ultraviolet (UV) energy. As this radiation travels toward the Earth, 25% of it is absorbed by the atmosphere and 25% is reflected by the clouds back into space. The remaining radiation travels unimpeded to the Earth and heats its surface. The Earth releases a lot of energy it has received from the Sun back to space. However, the Earth is much cooler than the Sun, so the energy re-emitted from the Earth's surface is much weaker, in the form of invisible longwave infrared (IR) radiation, sometimes called heat. Greenhouse gases like water vapour, carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide trap the infrared radiation released by the Earth's surface. The atmosphere acts like the glass in a greenhouse, allowing much of the shortwave solar radiation to travel through unimpeded, but trapping a lot of the longwave heat energy trying to escape back to space...

Conventional power stations burn coal, oil or gas to produce electricity. Road vehicles also burn fossil fuel in the form of petrol or diesel, products refined from oil. Coal, oil and gas are called fossil fuels because they form over millions of years through the decay, burial and compaction of rotting vegetation on land (coal), and marine organisms on the sea floor (oil and gas). Burning fossil fuels in this way releases carbon dioxide , a greenhouse gas , which enhances the natural greenhouse effect . Coal is a solid fuel formed over millions of years by the decay of land vegetation. Over time, successive layers become buried, compacted and heated, a process through which the deposits are turned into coal. Coal is widely used in the generation of electricity in power stations because it is a highly concentrated energy source. However, it is not a particularly "clean" fuel, releasing more sulphur dioxide than either oil or gas. Coal was the first fossil fuel to be exploit...

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is a colourless, odourless gas consisting of molecules of two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. Carbon dioxide is produced when any form of carbon or almost any carbon compound is burned in an excess of oxygen. For example, it is released into the atmosphere during natural forest fires and the man-made combustion of fossil fuels . Other natural sources of carbon dioxide include volcanic eruptions, decay of dead plant and animal matter, evaporation from the oceans and respiration (breathing). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by carbon dioxide "sinks". The main removal processes are absorption by seawater, and utilisation (for photosynthesis) by ocean-dwelling plankton and land-dwelling biomass, including forests and grasslands. Through Earth history the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has varied significantly. The Earth's early atmosphere was probably composed mostly of carbon dioxide. At that time, the natural greenhouse e...

Greenhouse gases are present in the atmosphere naturally, released by natural sources, or formed from secondary reactions taking place in the atmosphere. They include carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide and ozone. In the last 200 years, mankind has been releasing substantial quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These extra emissions are increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, enhancing the natural greenhouse effect , which is believed to be causing global warming. While man-made greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, some like the CFCs are completely new to the atmosphere. Natural sources of carbon dioxide include the respiration (breathing) of animals and plants, and evaporation from the oceans. Together, these natural sources release about 150 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, far outweighing the 7 billion tonnes of man-made emissions from fossil fuel burning, waste incineration, deforestation an...

Computers, networking and internet have certainly changed our lives and they way we work. In the 21 st century 99% of the offices have all the above mentioned three great inventions. Every office uses computers networked to each other and also connected to the internet. Every office uses one or more servers for e-mails, hosting websites, FTPs, backups, storage the list goes on and on. No office can function without these boons of technology. Even my office has all these and it helps us function better. But these inventions are destroying our environment. So what can we do, so that our environment is not harmed from the energy that our offices consume. The office complexes use a lot of energy there by inc reasing the energy consumption, which is directly proportional to the burning of fossil fuels (coal). So does that mean, our earth has to die in the hands of technology? Certainly not. The wise usage of electricity in offices can certainly reduce the green house e...

Hansen is director of the Goddard Institute of Space Studies at NASA . Hansen is on of first scientists that warm people about global warming in the 1980. He said if web (human) still produce CO2 will make disaster to our world. By using coal and other fossil fuel , this will increase CO2 concentration on our atmosphere from 385 to 600 parts per million (ppm) in the next 10 year. Major scientists will say that cause of global warming is because human produce CO2, but not for Roy W. Spencer, a research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. But Spencer views are not shared by most science, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , a multinational panel that released updated conclusions about human produced global warming and its risks last year. How To Reduce CO2 Emissions Hansen has some idea and solution for this : 1. Postpone building new coal fired power plant unless they have carbon sequestration technology. 2. Phasing out the use of coal fire ...

Currently, Earth temperatures continue to rise, occurred Anomalies season and the weather extreme. Polar ice melt, and threatening Hurricane. Ozone hole yawn, the World is on real crisis. Natural disaster, anywhere, Mostly because we RADIO (Human). Progress of Science and Technology is not all good for us. One is global warming. Himalaya glacier as eternal snow bank, is one of the most suffering as a result of global warming. Fourteen Peak - One of Mount Everest - the Tibetan plateau that met all ice. Ice on Himalayas hundred times more than the Highlands Alpen (Europe). Seven of the River of Asia that there disgorge (River Yellow River, Yangtze River, Mekong River, Salween River, Brahmaputera, Gangga River, and the Indus River) produce for more than half a source of water Drinks for 40% of the population of Earth. If Glester it disappeared, Say 25 years in the future, then the 2.6 billion people will lose the source of drinking water. What will we leave Heritage misery for our c...

Our planet warm is because green house gases that naturally exist on atmosphere heating it by trapping energy from the sun. This is what web call greenhouse effect. If this greenhouse gases not exist our planet surface will as cold as Moon (-18 degrees celsius). Our planet surface now have temperature about 15 degrees celsius. Measurements taken from all over the world, however, have shown that the global climate is changing. In the last 100 years the atmosphere has warmed up by about half a degree Celsius. Also during this time humans have been emitting extra greenhouse gases, which are the result of burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas). These gases include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. It’s true that we made emissions of greenhouse gases by using fossil fuels. The extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap more energy and therefore enhance the greenhouse effect. This may cause more warming. Greenhouse gases are also released by the exhausts of motor vehicle...