Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases. This section provides information on the emissions and removals of major greenhouse gases to and from the atmosphere. For more information on other climate forcings, such as black carbon, please see Climate Change Indicator: Forced Climate
 

greenhouse effect:
some of the Sun's infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere, but much of it is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules and clouds. This has the effect of warming the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere.

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A greenhouse gas is so named because it absorbs infrared radiation from the Sun as heat, which circulates in the atmosphere and is eventually lost to space. Greenhouse gases also increase the rate at which the atmosphere can absorb shortwave radiation from the Sun, but this has a much smaller effect on global temperatures.

The CO2 released from burning fossil fuels is accumulating like an insulating blanket around the Earth, trapping more of the Sun's heat in our atmosphere. Actions performed by humans are referred to as actions performed by humans; The anthropogenic release of CO2 contributes to the current enhanced greenhouse effect [1].

What gases cause the greenhouse effect?
The contribution of a greenhouse gas to the greenhouse effect depends on how much heat it absorbs, how much it gives off and how much in the atmosphere.

In descending order, the gases that contribute the most to the Earth's greenhouse effect are:

water vapor (H2O)
carbon dioxide (CO2)
nitrogen oxides (N2O)
methane (CH4)
ozone (O3)
In terms of the amount of heat these gases can absorb and give off (known as the Global Warming Potential or GWP), CH4 is 23 times more efficient and N2O is 296 times more efficient than CO2. . However, there is more CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere than there is CH4 or N2O.

Not all of the greenhouse gases that we release into the atmosphere stay there indefinitely. For example, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the amount of CO2 dissolved in the surface waters of the oceans are always in balance, because air and water mix well over the sea's surface. As we add more CO2 in the atmosphere, part of it dissolves in the oceans.

Human-caused greenhouse gases
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the mid-18th century, human activities have significantly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As a result, measured atmospheric CO2 concentrations are many times higher than pre-industrial levels.