greenhouse gas
/ˌɡɹinˌ(h)aʊs ˈɡæs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.76 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any gas (such as carbon dioxide, a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), or methane) that contributes to the greenhouse effect when released into the atmosphere by absorbing infrared radiation emitted by a planet's surface, thus increasing the surface temperature.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Termites and cows account for much greenhouse gas."
- "Only two greenhouse gases get much attention."
- "Models of the climate system serve as the primary means for developing quantitative estimates of the effects of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other trace gases. Since increases in the concentrations of CO₂ and other "greenhouse" gases lead to changes in the radiation field, the treatment of radiative processes is the natural starting point for comparison of model studies."
- "CFC's are very efficient greenhouse gases. The addition of one molecule each of CFC-11 and CFC-12 gives a greenhouse warming of more than 10⁴ molecules of CO₂."
- "Biological scientists are aware that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and trace gas concentrations would also have direct effects on plant growth as well as indirect effects through warming. […] Consideration of potential impacts must include the direct effects of "greenhouse" gas concentrations as well as climate warming."
- "Rapidly developing nations such as China and India are not required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, despite their large and growing use of fossil fuels."
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɡɹinˌ(h)aʊs ˈɡæs/
- British English: /ˌɡɹiːn.haʊs ˈɡæs/