greenhouse effect

noun

: warming of the surface and lower atmosphere of a planet (such as Earth or Venus) that is caused by conversion of solar radiation into heat in a process involving selective transmission of short wave solar radiation by the atmosphere, its absorption by the planet's surface, and reradiation as infrared which is absorbed and partly reradiated back to the surface by atmospheric gases

Examples of greenhouse effect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While both scenarios have a magma-sea beginning, the wet theory suggests that the planet eventually became temperate enough to host oceans of water, which ultimately disappeared when volcanic activity caused a runaway greenhouse effect. —Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Dec. 2024

The indoor atrium provides the ‘greenhouse effect’ and is home to a variety of plants. —Judy Garrison, Southern Living, 16 Oct. 2024

The idea would be to augment the natural greenhouse effect on Mars to raise its surface temperature by roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) over a span of a decade. —Reuters, NBC News, 9 Aug. 2024

Massive amounts of these particles, each roughly the size of commercially available glitter, could trap any existing heat while scattering sunlight across the Martian surface to boost the planet’s natural greenhouse effect. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

greenhouse effect

noun

: the warming of the earth's atmosphere that occurs when the sun's radiation passes through the atmosphere, is absorbed by the earth, and is given off as radiation of longer wavelength which can be absorbed by atmospheric gases (as carbon dioxide and water vapor)