Greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit long-wave radiation. By doing so they produce the greenhouse effect.

On Earth, the wavelength band of interest is centered around 10 microns with most of the radiant energy contained within the range of about 5 to 30 microns. The main greenhouse gases for Earth are water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone. Some other gases such as chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide play small but not negligible parts in the greenhouse effect.

Chemistry

• Water Vapor: H2O, the two Hydrogen Atoms form a 104.4 degree angle with one another
• Carbon Dioxide: CO2, the two Oxygen Atoms are both double bonded to the Carbon, and form a linear molecule
• Ozone: O3, two of the Oxygen atoms are bonded to a third, forming a 116.8 degree angle