Concepts
Greenhouse Effect
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
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.
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. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The earliest known published statement that more atmospheric carbon dioxide means a warmer Earth.
His 1896 paper is the first quantitative treatment of greenhouse warming.
Carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by the disturbed cycle results in global warming.
In Discipline
Sources
1. Greenhouse Effect (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory of discovery and investigationQuote, History of discovery and investigation
The existence of the greenhouse effect (while not named as such) was proposed as early as 1824 by Joseph Fourier.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.