greenhouse gas

noun

any of the gases whose absorption of solar radiation is responsible for the greenhouse effect, including carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and the fluorocarbons.

Origin of greenhouse gas

First recorded in 1980–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for greenhouse gas

Contemporary Examples of greenhouse gas

A carbon tax may be a good way to respond to greenhouse-gas emissions.
Dutch Disease? There are Worse Problems...
David Frum
May 26, 2012
Globally, livestock—mostly cattle—account for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Meat Glue, Pink Slime, Health Risks & More Reasons to Never Eat Meat
The Daily Beast
March 13, 2012
Cattle rank up there with automobiles and power plants in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Meat Glue, Pink Slime, Health Risks & More Reasons to Never Eat Meat
The Daily Beast
March 13, 2012
New polling suggests 76 percent of Americans support some government limitations on greenhouse-gas emissions.
Al Gore's Weird Silence
Dayo Olopade
June 14, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for greenhouse gas

greenhouse gas

noun

any gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

greenhouse gas in Science

greenhouse gas

Any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation produced by solar warming of the Earth's surface. They include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and water vapor. Although greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, the elevated levels especially of carbon dioxide and methane that have been observed in recent decades are directly related, at least in part, to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and the deforestation of tropical forests.