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Eunice Newton Foote (July 17, 1819 – September 30, 1888) was an American scientist, inventor, and women's rights campaigner.She was the first scientist to confirm that certain gases warm when exposed to sunlight, and that therefore rising carbon dioxide (CO 2) levels could increase atmospheric temperature and affect climate, a phenomenon now referred to as the greenhouse effect.
However, not all organisms use carbon dioxide as a source of carbon atoms to carry out photosynthesis; photoheterotrophs use organic compounds, rather than carbon dioxide, as a source of carbon. [2] In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis releases oxygen.
Carbon dioxide is soluble in water and is found in groundwater, lakes, ice caps, and seawater. It is a trace gas in Earth's atmosphere at 421 parts per million (ppm) [a], or about 0.042% (as of May 2022) having risen from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm or about 0.028%.
In 1856 Eunice Newton Foote demonstrated that the warming effect of the sun is greater for air with water vapour than for dry air, and the effect is even greater with carbon dioxide. [3] [4] John Tyndall was the first to measure the infrared absorption and emission of various gases and vapors.
Longwave absorption coefficients of water vapor and carbon dioxide. For wavelengths near 15 microns (15 μm in top scale), where Earth's surface emits strongly, CO 2 is a much stronger absorber than water vapor. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit longwave radiation within specific ranges of wavelengths (organized as spectral lines or bands). [15]
The water vapor acts as a greenhouse gas and, together with other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2), creates the conditions for both liquid surface water and water vapor to persist via the capturing of energy from the Sun's light. This process maintains the current average surface temperature of 14.76 °C ...
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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 10 January 2025. Gas in an atmosphere with certain absorption characteristics This article is about the physical properties of greenhouse gases. For how human activities are adding to greenhouse gases, see Greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases trap some of the heat that results when sunlight heats ...