The greenhouse effect is the radiative process by which certain atmospheric gases (notably water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone) absorb and re-emit longwave (infrared) radiation emitted by Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere, thereby reducing the net outgoing longwave flux to space and warming the lower troposphere and surface. It arises from molecular vibrational and rotational absorption bands that are transparent to most incoming shortwave solar radiation but partially opaque to outgoing terrestrial radiation. In climate science, the greenhouse effect is quantified via radiative forcing, feedbacks (e.g., water vapor and cloud feedbacks), and its role in establishing Earth’s energy balance and global mean temperature.
The world's oceans may be quietly amplifying climate change in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Rochester scientists—including ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 9, 2026
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Reading the "Mars Trilogy" by Kim Stanley Robinson brings the benefits and pitfalls of efforts to terraform the red planet into sharp relief. Since the 1970s, when Carl Sagan first suggested the possibility that we could ...
Space Exploration
Apr 9, 2026
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91
March's persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to federal weather data. And the next year or so looks to ...
Environment
Apr 9, 2026
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10
Reducing aircraft soot emissions may not reduce contrail clouds, according to in-flight observations of emissions from a passenger jet with modern "lean-burn" engines, reported in Nature. Contrails from aircraft contribute ...
Environment
Apr 1, 2026
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9
A new study shows that systems designed to capture methane from cow manure, called dairy digesters, are highly effective. But on the rare occasions they fail, the leaks are large enough to offset their climate benefits.
Environment
Mar 31, 2026
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34
Whenever humans arrive on Mars, they're going to find it a difficult place to exist. Mars is cold, with an average surface temperature of -55°C; temperatures can plunge to -125°C with dust storms lasting months; its atmosphere ...
The world is struggling to deal with ever-growing quantities of waste. A new World Bank Group report, What a Waste 3.0, shows that more than 2.6 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste (which includes rubbish from households, ...
Environment
Mar 29, 2026
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26
The amount of heat trapped by Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN warned Monday.
Environment
Mar 23, 2026
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17
A burst of unusual March heat is hitting the United States this week and into next, busting previous monthly heat records by wide margins. While heat is most acutely felt by people exposed to it, graphics and charts convey ...
Environment
Mar 21, 2026
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25
Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges in the present times. Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere are a major factor contributing to this phenomenon. Activities such as the ...
Environment
Mar 17, 2026
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