Other major experiments from Tyndall include the transmission of both radiant heat and light through various gases and vapours. Tyndall discovered that water vapour absorbs much more radiant heat than the gases of the atmosphere and argued the consequent importance of atmospheric water vapour in moderating the Earth’s climate—that is, in the natural greenhouse effect. He is also credited with the first ever atmospheric pollution measurements using infra-red and scattering measurement instruments, showing that ozone, the upper layer of atmosphere, is vital to life on Earth, and it is an oxygen cluster rather than a hydrogen compound.
Tyndall laid significant groundwork in physics for magnetism, electricity, molecular physics, optics, sound, the properties of materials, diamagnetism and heat.