What is the Greenhouse Effect?

Global warming and the green house effect are terms that are never far from the media, but what is the greenhouse effect? This page is going to provide you with a simple and east to understand explanation as to what this term actually means with our greenhouse effect definition.

Also on this page you will find out what causes global warming as this is another fundamental question that people ask on the subject. We are also going to explain on this page how the greenhouse effect links, or should we say leads, to global warming.

The greenhouse effect definition

So first things first, what is the green house effect? If you look around the internet you will find loads of different definitions of the greenhouse effect and some may seem conflicting to others. It is a subject that causes much debate and by and large triggers a lot of different opinions. However, this greenhouse effect definition should in very simple and easy to understand terms answer this question for you as factually as possible.

The greenhouse effect is what happens when gases in the earth's atmosphere trap solar radiation (heat from the sun) when it is reflected back from the earth.

When the solar radiation comes from the sun these gases allows it to pass through and it will then heat the earth's surface. However, some of this heat is radiated back and should naturally pass back through the gases and into space keeping the earth at a sustainable temperature. However, as the gases in question, which are known as green houses gases, trap some of the heat the earth becomes warmer and this is what the greenhouse effect is.

In a one line sentence the greenhouse effect is the result of infrared light not being able to transmit back through the atmosphere into space after it has been radiated to the earth from the sun.

For a more thorough explanation as to how this happens and to see a diagram on the process please see further down the page in our 'what causes the greenhouse effect?' section.

So why is it called 'the green house effect'? Well that this is of course another valid question and just in case our green house effect definition has not made this obvious we will now make this clear. We all know what greenhouses are right? A house made of glass where sunlight comes in to create a warm atmosphere for something to grow. The glass allows the sunlight to pass through and heat the soil and the plants inside it but the heat that is reflected is retained in the atmosphere inside the greenhouse instead of passing back out through the glass, it is trapped. This is a common comparison that is made when people ask 'what is the green house effect?'.

We do hope that our greenhouse effect definition has been able to help you understand what the greenhouse effect is.

If you are interested in learning more about the green house effect then check out our page on what the greenhouse gases are as this will show you the gases that are responsible for this phenomenon taking place and also the subsequent result which is global warming. Global warming is a huge topic for debate in the world today with many different people having many different opinions and beliefs as to how significant it is and what the actual effects of global warming are.

What causes the greenhouse effect?

Without meaning to repeat what we have said in the above greenhouse effect definition we are now going to talk about what causes the greenhouse effect. In this section we are also going to provide you with a diagram that we hope better displays exactly what happened when it comes to the causes of the green house effect.

The term 'green house effect' is used because a conventional green house is something that portrays what is happening, all be it on a smaller scale. The sun radiates it's energy, or heat, to the earth and this comes in through the atmosphere and warms the surface of the earth as well as any gases in the air that have particles that respond to sunlight. These gases are commonly known as greenhouse gases, please click here for more information on exactly what these are. These green house gases are spread throughout the atmosphere and when they start to warm up, because of the sun's heat, they reciprocate the heat with the gases next to them, so as these are evenly spread this makes for a lot of heated up gas molecules!

The effect now is that the atmosphere is warmer because of these heated up gases and therefore the earth becomes warmer, this in a nutshell is the green house effect.

Because the earth is becoming warmer because of the greenhouse effect the 'term global warming' is used, so basically global warming is the result of the green house effect and the gases that trap heat inside the atmosphere instead of allowing the heat to reflect back into space is what causes the greenhouse effect.

Perhaps this diagram can better show what causes the greenhouse effect.

We do hope that this section has been able to understand the basics of what causes the greenhouse effect. There is plenty more information on our site all about what causes global warming and what climate change is so please take a look around while you are here.

More information

There is so much more to our site than just green house effect information so please take a look around at all of the other related content that we have to global warming and the greenhouse effect. We hope that this page has been useful in answering the question 'what is the greenhouse effect?' through our greenhouse effect definition. There is a wealth of information on the internet about this subject and although you will find many interesting facts it is important to recognise exactly what is fact and what is opinion. You will find that many people have their own view on the green house effect and how seriously it is effecting the environment.