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.
When Meredith Holgerson arrived at Cornell in 2020, she began searching for the perfect ponds. Poring over maps, taking tips, she'd traipse into the woods of central New York with an inflatable kayak strapped to her back.
Environment
Dec 1, 2025
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12
Around 56 million years ago, Earth suddenly got much hotter. Over about 5,000 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere drastically increased and global temperatures shot up by some 6°C.
Ecology
Dec 1, 2025
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55
High levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide intensify climate change, but high carbon dioxide levels can also stimulate plant growth. Plant growth removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, partially mitigating the effects ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 25, 2025
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European farmers can reduce agricultural climate emissions by 40% while also reducing pressure on biodiversity and maintaining current levels of food production, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.
Agriculture
Nov 24, 2025
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Over the past week we've witnessed the many political discussions that go with the territory of a COP—or, more verbosely, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2025
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A vast canyon of buried garbage has been smoldering inside a landfill in the Santa Clarita Valley, inducing geysers of liquid waste onto the surface and noxious fumes into the air.
Environment
Nov 20, 2025
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25
If heat-trapping pollution from burning coal, oil and gas continues unchecked, thousands of hazardous sites across the United States risk being flooded from sea level rise by the turn of the century, posing serious health ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2025
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139
Producing and distributing food is responsible for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. But food systems are highly vulnerable to the droughts, floods, fires and heat waves made more intense by climate change. ...
Ecology
Nov 19, 2025
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15
Despite rapid progress in clean energy and electric vehicles, the world is still warming faster than ever. The good news is that we already have powerful ways to reduce the warming rate—if governments look beyond carbon dioxide ...
Environment
Nov 19, 2025
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21
A low-fat vegan diet is associated with a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and cumulative energy demand (CED) compared to the Standard American Diet, according to research by the Physicians Committee ...
Environment
Nov 18, 2025
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