the greenhouse effect

noun

: the warming of the Earth's atmosphere that is caused by air pollution

Note: The greenhouse effect occurs when warmth from the sun is trapped in the Earth's atmosphere by a layer of gases (such as carbon dioxide) and water vapor.

Examples of the greenhouse effect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As humans contribute to the greenhouse effect at the same time, trapping Earth’s heat near the surface, storms tend to be much more powerful. —Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 21 Feb. 2024

By Munroe’s estimation, scientists first identified the greenhouse effect — that rising carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere, driven by industrial activity, could dramatically raise the planet’s temperature — closer to the start of the Industrial Revolution than to today. —Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2024

In the greenhouse effect, solar radiation reaches the planet's surface, and the planet releases some of that energy by emitting infrared radiation. —Discover Magazine, 20 Oct. 2010

Denial is as central to the development of the climate crisis as the greenhouse effect. —David Marchese Photo Illustration By Bráulio Amado, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2024

Scripps also was home to the late Roger Revelle, who helped prove, against much opposition, that the greenhouse effect is real. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Nov. 2023

That’s because those oceans have absorbed something like ninety-three per cent of the extra heat trapped by the greenhouse effect and our burning of fossil fuels. —Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023

Sign up Public health officials, researchers, and reporters have warned for years that the greenhouse effect would kill—and kill viciously. —Eleanor Cummins, The New Republic, 3 Aug. 2023

On Mars, for instance, the air is 95% CO2, but there is much less air – 150 times less than the amount on Earth – so the greenhouse effect is much less. —USA TODAY, 26 June 2023