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.
Emissions and atmospheric concentrations of methane continue to increase, making it the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of climate forcing after carbon dioxide. In fact, methane concentrations ...
Earth Sciences
May 13, 2025
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Over the past decade, the Curiosity rover has repeatedly detected methane on the surface of Mars. This gas is often produced by microbes, so it could herald the presence of life on the red planet. But skeptics have postulated ...
Astrobiology
May 12, 2025
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Human emissions of greenhouse gases have caused rapid global warming. This has made high-impact, heat extreme events around the globe more and more intense over the past 70 years. Heat extremes, such as heat waves, can cause ...
Earth Sciences
May 12, 2025
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Laughing gas (nitrous oxide or N₂O) is primarily released by the microorganisms responsible for cleaning our wastewater. These microbes live in complex communities, with each group performing a specific role. Emissions vary ...
Environment
May 8, 2025
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Over the last decade, humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) have stabilized after a period of huge growth. Average growth is now down to just 0.6% per year, compared to 2% per year in the previous decade. But leveling ...
Environment
May 8, 2025
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Climate extremes, including heat waves, crop failures, river floods, tropical cyclones, wildfires and droughts, will intensify with continued atmospheric warming. Today's children will endure more climate extremes than any ...
Environment
May 7, 2025
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Record fossil fuel production kept planet-heating methane emissions near historic highs last year, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday, warning of a surge in massive leaks from oil and gas facilities.
Environment
May 7, 2025
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Up to 250,000 deaths from poor air quality could be prevented annually in central and western Europe by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced, say researchers.
Earth Sciences
May 6, 2025
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Rising temperatures could tip the scale in an underground battle that has raged for millennia. In the soils of Earth's wetlands, microbes are fighting to both produce and consume the powerful greenhouse gas methane. But if ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 23, 2025
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President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that would block state laws seeking to tackle greenhouse gas emissions—the latest salvo in his administration's campaign to roll back the United States' climate action.
Environment
Apr 22, 2025
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