The warming of the earth’s surface that is produced when solar heat becomes trapped by layers of carbon dioxide and other gases.
The rise in temperature that the Earth experiences after gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and the Earth’s average temperature would be about 60°F colder. These greenhouse gases, much like a greenhouse that traps heat from the sun to keep plants warm enough to live in the winter, cause the world to heat up so that the Earth is warm enough for humans to live comfortably. But if the greenhouse effect intensifies, it could make the Earth warmer than needed and cause serious problems for humans, plants, and animals.
Planetary warming as a result of the trapping of solar energy beneath atmospheric gases. The composition and concentration of the gases in the atmosphere influence the earth’s surface temperature because some gases more effectively retain heat than others. Fossil fuel combustion, which has increased at a rapid rate since the 1950s, has deposited increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the upper atmosphere. This is thought to be a contributory factor in global warming, a phenomenon suspected of having widespread effects on all ecosystems.
Warming caused by increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.