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Greenhouse effect
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Diagram illustrating the greenhouse effect, showing sunlight reaching Earth, some visible light absorbed by the surface, some reflected, and infrared radiation absorbed and reradiated by the atmosphere.
Close-up of pink cherry blossoms blooming on a tree branch against a blue sky with clouds, illustrating early spring caused by climate change.
Illustration of a red-capped mushroom wearing a red cape next to bold text reading 'Can fungi save the world?' with a smokestack in the background.
How greenhouse gases affect Earth's climate
Global warming and its impact explained
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Combination shot of Grinnell Glacier taken from the summit of Mount Gould, Glacier National Park, Montana in the years 1938, 1981, 1998 and 2006.
Pop Quiz: 18 Things to Know About Global Warming
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April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs
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Diagram illustrating the greenhouse effect, showing sunlight reaching Earth, some visible light absorbed by the surface, some reflected, and infrared radiation absorbed and reradiated by the atmosphere.
Greenhouse effect on Earth The greenhouse effect on Earth. Some incoming sunlight is reflected by Earth's atmosphere and surface, but most is absorbed by the surface, which is warmed. Infrared (IR) radiation is then emitted from the surface. Some IR radiation escapes to space, but some is absorbed by the atmosphere's greenhouse gases (especially water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) and reradiated in all directions, some to space and some back toward the surface, where it further warms the surface and the lower atmosphere.

Greenhouse effect

atmospheric science
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Greenhouse effect, a warming of Earth’s surface and troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere) caused by the presence of water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, and certain other gases in the air. Of those gases, known as greenhouse gases, water vapour has the largest effect. The origins of the term greenhouse effect are unclear. French mathematician Joseph Fourier is sometimes given credit as the first person to coin the term greenhouse effect based on his...

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