The greenhouse effect

The exchange of incoming and outgoing radiation that warms the Earth is often referred to as the
greenhouse effect because a greenhouse works in much the same way.

Incoming UV radiation easily passes through the glass walls of a greenhouse and is absorbed by
the plants and hard surfaces inside. Weaker IR radiation, however, has difficulty passing through
the glass walls and is trapped inside, thus warming the greenhouse. This effect lets tropical plants
thrive inside a greenhouse, even during a cold winter.

A similar phenomenon takes place in a car parked outside on a cold, sunny day. Incoming solar
radiation warms the car's interior, but outgoing thermal radiation is trapped inside the car's closed
windows.

Greenhouse gases and global warming

"Gas molecules that absorb thermal infrared radiation, and are in significant enough quantity, can
force the climate system. These type of gas molecules are called greenhouse gases," Michael
Daley, an associate professor of Environmental Science at Lasell College told Live Science.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases act like a blanket, absorbing IR radiation and
preventing it from escaping into outer space. The net effect is the gradual heating of Earth's
atmosphere and surface, a process known as global warming.

These greenhouse gases include water vapor, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide (N2O) and other
gases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since the dawn of the
Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gasoline
have greatly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially CO2,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "Deforestation is the second largest
anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere ranging between 6 percent and 17
percent," said Daley.

Atmospheric CO2 levels have increased by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, from about 280 parts per million (ppm) in the 1800s to 400 ppm today.
The last time Earth's atmospheric levels of CO2 reached 400 ppm was during the Pliocene
Epoch, between 5 million and 3 million years ago, according to the University of California, San
Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The greenhouse effect, combined with increasing levels of greenhouse gases and the resulting
global warming, is expected to have profound implications, according to the near-universal
consensus of scientists.

If global warming continues unchecked, it will cause significant climate change, a rise in sea
levels, increasing ocean acidification, extreme weather events and other severe natural and
societal impacts, according to NASA, the EPA and other scientific and governmental bodies.
Definition of drought
Most people think of a drought as a period of unusually dry weather that persists long enough to
cause problems such as crop damage and water supply shortages. But because dry conditions
develop for different reasons, there is more than one definition of drought.

"Drought is caused by not only lack of precipitation and high temperatures but by overuse and
overpopulation," said David Miskus, a drought expert and meteorologist at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center.

In the 1980s, two researchers uncovered more than 150 published definitions of drought which
they published in the journal Water International. In an effort to bring some order to measuring
drought, the scientists grouped the definitions into four basic categories: meteorological,
hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic. The first three descriptions track drought as a
physical phenomenon. The last category deals with drought as a supply-and-demand problem,
through the impacts of water shortfalls.

These definitions usually specify the beginning, end and degree of severity of drought by
comparing the precipitation over a certain time period to a historical average. Scientists include
both rain and snow in precipitation measurements, because some U.S. regions, such as the
mountainous West, rely on winter snow for much of their yearly water.

Here are descriptions of the four main categories of drought:

Meteorological drought is specific to different regions, depending on the amount of yearly

precipitation that's average for that area. For example, the southwest portion of the United States
averages less than 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of precipitation per year, while the Northwest gets
more than 150 inches (381 cm) per year, according to the U.S. Department of Interior. A
decrease in precipitation compared to the historical average for that area would qualify as a
meteorological drought.

Agricultural drought accounts for the water needs of crops during different growing stages. For
instance, not enough moisture at planting time may hinder germination, leading to low plant
populations and a reduction in yield.

Hydrological drought refers to persistently low water volumes in streams, rivers and reservoirs.
Human activities, such as drawdown of reservoirs, can worsen hydrological droughts.
Hydrological drought is often linked with meteorological droughts.

Socioeconomic drought occurs when the demand for water exceeds the supply. Examples of
this kind of drought include too much irrigation or when low river flow forces hydroelectric
power plant operators to reduce energy production.