GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does greenhouse effect mean? 

• GREENHOUSE EFFECT (noun)
  The noun GREENHOUSE EFFECT has 1 sense:

1. warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere; caused by atmospheric gases that allow sunshine to pass through but absorb heat that is radiated back from the warmed surface of the earth

  Familiarity information: GREENHOUSE EFFECT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GREENHOUSE EFFECT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere; caused by atmospheric gases that allow sunshine to pass through but absorb heat that is radiated back from the warmed surface of the earth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

greenhouse effect; greenhouse warming

Hypernyms ("greenhouse effect" is a kind of...):

atmospheric phenomenon (a physical phenomenon associated with the atmosphere)

 Context examples 

But it releases nitrous oxide which, pound for pound, causes a greenhouse effect approximately 300 times greater than carbon dioxide.

(Method that cuts sugarcane emissions gets global prize, SciDev.Net)

It's a process that could jeopardize local ecosystems and further fuel the greenhouse effect, the researchers said.

(Tropical soil disturbance could be hidden source of carbon dioxide, National Science Foundation)

With no water left on the surface, carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere, leading to a so-called runaway greenhouse effect that created present conditions.

(NASA Climate Modeling Suggests Venus May Have Been Habitable, NASA)

The exoplanet is thoroughly inhospitable — leftover energy from its formation and a powerful greenhouse effect heat HR8799e to a hostile temperature of roughly 1000 °C.

(GRAVITY instrument breaks new ground in exoplanet imaging, ESO)

The production of biodiesel from microalgae brings along with it ecological benefits that contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide in the air—one of the causes of greenhouse effect, one of today's biggest environmental concerns.

(Petrobras considers producing biodiesel from microalgae, Agência Brasil)

That limits the amount of water evaporated from the oceans and, as a result, the greenhouse effect by water vapor.

(NASA Climate Modeling Suggests Venus May Have Been Habitable, NASA)