Greenhouse gases are atmospheric constituents that absorb and emit infrared radiation, thereby contributing to the greenhouse effect and Earth’s radiative energy balance. Major greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), ozone (O₃), and various halogenated compounds, along with water vapour (H₂O) as a feedback agent. Their radiative forcing depends on concentration, spectral absorption properties, atmospheric lifetime, and overlap with other absorbers. In climate research, greenhouse gases are quantified via metrics such as global warming potential and effective radiative forcing to assess their contribution to anthropogenic climate change and to inform emissions mitigation strategies.
For years, countries have told the United Nations how much methane they emit using a kind of bottom-up bookkeeping: Count the cows and oil barrels, estimate the volume of trash, and multiply by standard emission factors.
Environment
Jan 13, 2026
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Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose last year, snapping a two-year streak of declines as cold winter temperatures drove demand for heating fuel and the AI boom led to a surge in power generation, a think tank ...
Environment
Jan 13, 2026
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Young tropical forests play a crucial role in slowing climate change. Growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air, using photosynthesis to build it into their roots, trunks, and branches, where they can store carbon ...
Ecology
Jan 13, 2026
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987
McGill engineering researchers have introduced an open-source model that makes it easier for experts and non-experts alike to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. natural gas supply chains and yields more accurate ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 12, 2026
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Australian researchers have discovered a hidden climate superpower of trees. Their bark harbors trillions of microbes that help scrub the air of greenhouse and toxic gases.
Earth Sciences
Jan 8, 2026
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A new study reveals that microplastics are impairing the oceans' ability to absorb carbon dioxide, a process scientists find crucial for regulating Earth's temperature.
Earth Sciences
Jan 5, 2026
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210
A new regional assessment shows that Southeast Asia is a major net source of greenhouse gases, with land-use change and rising fossil fuel use overwhelming natural carbon sinks, reservoirs that store carbon-containing chemical ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 23, 2025
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27
Global peatlands—huge expanses of partially decayed vegetation—store more carbon than is naturally present in the atmosphere but are under pressure from drainage-based agriculture. New research from Murdoch University reveals ...
Environment
Dec 18, 2025
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Globally, soils contain three times as much carbon as exists in the atmosphere and all plants, combined. Which means that understanding how soil microbes recycle organic materials—sometimes sending CO2 back into the atmosphere, ...
Environment
Dec 17, 2025
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90
Rising global emissions of hydrogen over the past three decades have added to the planet's warming temperatures and amplified the impact of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, according to new research published ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 17, 2025
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