The Greenhouse Effect [Key Terms]

This is is like a cozy blanket for Earth, trapping heat from the sun and keeping our planet warm.

• The Carbon Cycle

• The Greenhouse Effect

• The Greenhouse Gases

• Aerosols

This is the process by which carbon continually moves from the atmosphere to the earth and then back to the atmosphere.

• The Carbon Cycle

• Methane

• Carbon Dioxide

• Nitrous Oxide

This is the primary greenhouse gas contributing to recent climate change.

• The Carbon Cycle

• Methane

• Carbon Dioxide

• Nitrous Oxide

This is produced by both natural and human activities.

• The Carbon Cycle

• Methane

• Carbon Dioxide

• Nitrous Oxide

This is produced mainly through agricultural activities and natural biological processes.

• The Carbon Cycle

• Methane

• Carbon Dioxide

• Nitrous Oxide

They are often used in coolants, foaming agents, fire extinguishers, solvents, pesticides, and aerosol propellants.

• Ground-Level Ozone

• Water Vapor

• Fluorinated Gases (F-Gases)

• Aerosols

It is created by a chemical reaction between emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from automobiles, power plants, and other industrial and commercial sources in the presence of sunlight.

• Ground-Level Ozone

• Water Vapor

• Fluorinated Gases (F-Gases)

• Aerosols

It plays a key role in climate feedbacks to an external site because of its heat-trapping ability.

• Ground-Level Ozone

• Water Vapor

• Fluorinated Gases (F-Gases)

• Aerosols

They are microscopic (solid or liquid) particles that are so small that instead of quickly falling to the surface like larger particles, they remain suspended in the air for days to weeks.

• Ground-Level Ozone

• Water Vapor

• Fluorinated Gases (F-Gases)

• Aerosols

They are natural processes that respond to global warming by offsetting or further increasing change in the climate system.

• Greenhouse Gases

• Climate Feedbacks

• Fluorinated Gases (F-Gases)

• Aerosols