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Carbon Dioxide is heavier than air. What keeps it in the upper atmosphere as a Greenhouse Gas?
3 Answers
- Keith PLv 72 decades agoFavorite Answer
Carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas at all altitudes. You are correct that it is heavier than air, and therefore is less prevalent at higher altitudes.
- Anonymous5 years ago
It's definitely D. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth that would otherwise be lost to space. EDIT: Well, as virtually everyone has said, it's D. John W is correct in pointing out that it is not reflected infrared, but radiated (let's not call it re-radiated) infrared emitted by the Earth. Most of the sun's radiation is in the visible spectrum, so that is mostly what the Earth reflects, and I don't believe it's a very good reflector of infrared anyway. Even Charles M (sometimes known as James E) gets D right, but he spreads misinformation about carbon dioxide and methane not being greenhouse gases--they most definitely are. Instead of doing experiments with a coke bottle, he might have tried using an infrared spectraphotometer to look at the absorption characteristics of pure CO2.