What does the greenhouse effect have to do with global warming?
The “greenhouse effect” refers to the natural phenomenon that keeps the Earth in a temperature range that allows life to flourish. The sun’s enormous energy warms the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere. As this energy radiates back toward space as heat, a portion is absorbed by a delicate balance of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere – among them carbon dioxide and methane – which creates an insulating layer. With the temperature control of the greenhouse effect, the Earth has an average surface temperature of fifteen degrees Celsius. Without it, the average surface temperature would be minus eighteen degrees Celsius, a temperature so low that the Earth would be frozen and could not sustain life. “Global warming” refers to the rise in the Earth’s temperature resulting from an increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
