Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous phase of water. It is one state of water within the hydrosphere. Water vapor can be produced from the evaporation or boiling of liquid water or from the sublimation of ice. Water vapor is transparent, like most constituents of the atmosphere. [1]
Water vapor concentration for this gas mixture is 0.4%. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere, responsible for 70% of the known absorption of incoming sunlight, particularly in the infrared region, and about 60% of the atmospheric absorption of thermal radiation by the Earth known as the greenhouse effect. [25]
Water vapor accounts for roughly 0.25% of the atmosphere by mass. The concentration of water vapor (a greenhouse gas) varies significantly from around 10 ppm by mole fraction in the coldest portions of the atmosphere to as much as 5% by mole fraction in hot, humid air masses, and concentrations of other atmospheric gases are typically quoted in ...
Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to make a landmark discovery of water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet just twice Earth’s diameter in size.
Atmospheric water vapour holds suspended gasses in it (not by mass),78.08% nitrogen as N 2, 20.95% oxygen as O 2, 0.93% argon, trace gases, and variable amounts of condensing water (from saturated water vapor). Any carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from a pressurised source combines with the carbonic acid water vapour and momentarily ...
Without other greenhouse gases, Earth's blackbody temperature, below the freezing point of water, would cause water vapor to be removed from the atmosphere. [22] [23] [24] Water vapor is thus a "slave" to the non-condensible greenhouse gases. [25] [26] [27]
When Earth formed around 4.6 billion years ago, some water likely existed in that gas and dust — though much of it would have been vaporized by the sun’s intense heat. (NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, so the rising air expands in a process that expends energy and causes the air to cool, which makes water vapor condense into cloud. [8] Water vapor in saturated air is normally attracted to condensation nuclei such as dust and salt particles that are small enough to be held aloft by normal ...