The process by which heat-trapping gases in a planet's atmosphere prevent it from losing heat to space, raising its surface temperature. A greenhouse gas absorbs and emits longwave radiation at specific wavelengths, impeding the flow of heat outward; without any greenhouse effect at all, Earth's average surface would sit well below freezing. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Origin YearJoseph Fourier proposed the underlying effect, unnamed as such, in 1824; Svante Arrhenius gave the first quantitative prediction of resulting warming in 1896. Connections
Associated With
The earliest known published statement that more atmospheric carbon dioxide means a warmer Earth.
Source Eunice Newton Foote (Wikipedia)
His 1896 paper is the first quantitative treatment of greenhouse warming.
Source Svante Arrhenius (Wikipedia)
Carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by the disturbed cycle results in global warming.
Source Carbon Cycle (Wikipedia)
In Discipline
Source Greenhouse Effect (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Greenhouse Effect (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory of discovery and investigation
The existence of the greenhouse effect (while not named as such) was proposed as early as 1824 by Joseph Fourier.
Lead paragraph, sentence on Joseph Fourier's 1824 proposal
The existence of the greenhouse effect (while not named as such) was proposed as early as 1824 by Joseph Fourier.
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