Abstract

ABRIL, Eduardo R. The glasshouse effect caused by atmospheric CO₂: a new thermodynamic interpretation. Ecol. austral [online]. 2007, vol.17, n.2, pp.299-304. ISSN 1667-782X.

At present times the use of models to simulate and predict the climate change and its consequences on global ecological processes has contributed to a better understanding of the phenomena in several disciplines. However, there is evidence that current models fail to simulate a number of well known climatic changes recorded around the world, which suggests that many of the processes involved in climatic change are still not fully understood. A new thermodynamic interpretation of the atmospheric glasshouse effect caused by CO₂ is presented, which is based on the relationship between temperature and heat considered from the corpuscular theory of energy. The activated complex theory used in chemical kinetics is interpreted as probabilistic criteria, applicable therefore not only to the chemical reactions but also to physical interactions. Under this perspective, this article suggests that the current level of atmospheric CO₂ increase would not be sufficient to explain global warming.

Keywords : Global warming; Temperature; Activated complex; Chemical kinetics.

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