As compared to nitrogen,oxygen,and argon,what attribute of CO2 makes it a "greenhouse"gas?

Specifically CO2 has two symmetric (and opposite) electric dipoles (it's not a net dipole) so it can react in a variety of ways, all of them listed here:

http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/vibs/co2.html

http://www.wag.caltech.edu/home/jang/genchem/infra...

These are called "vibrational modes." Gases like Nitrogen gas and Oxygen gas actually consist of two atoms of those elements: N2, O2 (Argon is a noble gas and doesn't bond at all, so no dipole). Since the electronegativities of those atoms in each molecule are the same, there is no uneven distribution of charge and thus no dipole - and thus no way for them to react vibrationally with infrared.

I am not sure about their full spectroscopic patterns though. I recall hearing somewhere that oxygen was active in the visible spectrum.

Any molecule with 3 or more atoms is a greenhouse gas. the center of mass changes in molecules with 3 of more atoms as they vibrate. This is usually not the case with two atom molecules or Ar. N2, O2, and Ar make up more than 99% of dry air. In dry air (no water vapor) CO2 is the next most abundant.

This has some of what your looking for, but a lot still missing.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/heat-mol...

http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_3_1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atmospheric_Tran... (you'll need to convert to angstroms)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_%28dat...

When electromagnetic radiation strikes a molecule with an uneven distribution of electric charges, called an electric dipole such as that of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and a matching absorption frequency it causes the molecule to oscillate or vibrate which in turn either re-emits the energy or converts it into kinetic energy. This increase in kinetic energy is what we perceive as an increase in temperature. As the other gases you mentioned do not have over 2 atoms per molecule they do not have an uneven distribution of electric charges.

because of the fact it truly is. because of the fact the quantity that's certainly happening so completely dwarfs the quantity that ought to probably be released by applying human beings that we only do not count selection. because of the fact alarmunists urge to cut back the quantity of CO2 in the ambience is like attempting to cut back the quantity of water in the international -- completely pointless.

Greenhouse gas? A lot of gibberish nonsense,, don't you think that the creator that owns the earth and everything in it is the one that regulates the laws in motion and Earths changes as it spins and revolves through the vast universe, in which he has the deed for?