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.
As climate change accelerates and politicians continue to argue, scientists are exploring radical new ways to protect our planet. One of the most ambitious concepts under development is a Planetary Sunshade System (PSS), ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 12, 2025
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A giant, balloon-like tarp stretches over a lagoon of manure on a Central Valley dairy farm, concealing a quiet but remarkable transformation. Methane, a potent climate-warming gas, is being captured and cleaned instead of ...
Environment
Jun 11, 2025
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Human-caused climate change boosted Iceland and Greenland 's temperatures by several degrees during a record-setting May heat wave, raising concerns about the far-reaching implications melting Arctic ice has for weather around ...
Environment
Jun 11, 2025
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For the first time, the seasonal peak of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere exceeded 430 parts per million (ppm) at NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography ...
Environment
Jun 5, 2025
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In March 2022, 14 residents of a four-story apartment building in Silver Spring, Maryland, were hospitalized when a gas leak from a cut pipeline caused a major explosion. Every year in the United States, there are hundreds ...
Environment
Jun 4, 2025
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The UK government recently announced plans to fund five small-scale trials related to geoengineering. It's the first time a state research funding body has put serious money into what's known as solar radiation management, ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 3, 2025
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Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be triggered by very little ocean warming above present-day, leading to a devastating four meters of global sea level rise to play out over hundreds of years, according to a ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 3, 2025
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There was a time when oil and gas companies happily linked themselves to the idea of planet-wide environmental changes. "Each day Humble supplies enough energy to melt 7 million tons of glacier!" boasts the headline from ...
Environment
Jun 2, 2025
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Oceans have absorbed the vast majority of the warming caused by burning fossil fuels and shielded societies from the full impact of greenhouse gas emissions.
Environment
Jun 2, 2025
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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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