What is "greenhouse effect"

n. (context ecology English) (''with'' '''the''') The process by which a planet is warmed by its atmosphere.

n. 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

The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be without its atmosphere.

If a planet's atmosphere contains radiatively active gases (i.e., greenhouse gases) the atmosphere will radiate energy in all directions. Part of this radiation is directed towards the surface, warming it. The downward component of this radiation – that is, the strength of the greenhouse effect – will depend on the atmosphere's temperature and on the amount of greenhouse gases that the atmosphere contains.

On Earth, the atmosphere is warmed by absorption of infrared thermal radiation from the underlying surface, absorption of shorter wavelength radiant energy from the sun, and convective heat fluxes from the surface. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere radiate energy, some of which is directed to the surface and lower atmosphere. The mechanism that produces this difference between the actual surface temperature and the effective temperature is due to the atmosphere and is known as the greenhouse effect.

Earth’s natural greenhouse effect is critical to supporting life. Human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing global warming.

The mechanism is named after a faulty analogy with the effect of solar radiation passing through glass and warming a greenhouse. The way a greenhouse retains heat is fundamentally different, as a greenhouse works by reducing airflow and retaining warm air inside the structure.

The Greenhouse Effect refers to a theory of Supreme Court justices' behavior, first proposed by Hoover Institution economist Thomas Sowell and popularized by D.C. Court of Appeals Senior Judge Laurence Silberman in a speech to The Federalist Society in 1992. Here, the word "Greenhouse" refers to Linda Greenhouse, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who covered the Supreme Court for the New York Times for 40 years. Silberman used the term to postulate a tendency of conservative Supreme Court Justices to vote with the liberals more often as their careers progress due to a desire for favorable press coverage. He said "It seems that the primary objective of The Times's legal reporters is to put activist heat on recently appointed Supreme Court justices."

The existence of the Greenhouse Effect has been challenged by some commentators, who note it presumes a “vast, hegemonic liberal control over the media and academia” and question whether professional decision makers who have "come to their views despite years of elite education and exposure to elite opinion" are really so malleable. However, the evidence below suggests that conservative justices become liberal more often than liberals become conservative. Further, the existence of a more general version of the Greenhouse Effect, one not restricted to the media but rather "elites" in general or legal elites, is less controversial. Though this does not show causation, 75% of law professors who began their careers after 1986 identify as liberal, while only 10% identify as conservative. Evidence suggests more "elite" journalists identify as liberal than conservative.