Greenhouse effect

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The process by which a planet is heated by solar radiation which is retained by its atmosphere.

    "Firstly, the atmosphere may act like the glass of a green-house, letting through the light rays of the sun relatively easy, and absorbing a great part of the dark rays emitted from the ground, and it thereby may raise the mean temperature of the earth's surface."

  2. 2
    warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere; caused by atmospheric gases that allow sunshine to pass through but absorb heat that is radiated back from the warmed surface of the earth wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
anthropogenic warmingatmospheric warmingclimate warmingglobal warminggreenhouse warminghuman caused warming

Example

More examples

"Firstly, the atmosphere may act like the glass of a green-house, letting through the light rays of the sun relatively easy, and absorbing a great part of the dark rays emitted from the ground, and it thereby may raise the mean temperature of the earth's surface."

Etymology

First attested in 1901 by Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm.

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