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Which type of EMR is trapped by the greenhouse effect?

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases including methane, nitrous oxide, tropospheric ozone and CFC's are all accumulating in the atmosphere due to human activities. They are the causes of global climate change. 


In an actual greenhouse, its glass panels allow sunlight in, but trap heat energy, preventing it from escaping. This causes the temperature inside a greenhouse to be quite warm.


Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation, the electromagnetic radiation that is radiated heat from the sun. As sunlight strikes Earth, some of it is converted to heat which should radiate back into space. However, the greenhouses gases in the atmosphere slow this process down and warm the temperature of the lower atmosphere. This leads to global warming.


Infrared radiation has longer wavelengths than visible light, but shorter wavelengths than microwaves along the electromagnetic spectrum. The shortest wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum are gamma rays, followed by X-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwaves, radar, tv, and radio waves which are the longest.


To summarize, the type of EMR trapped by greenhouse gases is called infrared radiation.

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