GC: n
CT: A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere.
By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.
S: http://www.livescience.com/37821-greenhouse-gases.html (last access: 19 December 2014).
N: 1. – greenhouse (n): 1660s, from green + house (n.). Greenhouse effect attested from 1937.
– gas (n): 1650s, from Dutch gas, probably from Greek khaos “empty space”. The sound of Dutch “g” is roughly equivalent to that of Greek “kh.” First used by Flemish chemist J.B. van Helmont (1577-1644), probably influenced by Paracelsus, who used khaos in an occult sense of “proper elements of spirits” or “ultra-rarified water,” which was van Helmont’s definition of gas.
Modern scientific sense began 1779, with later specialization to “combustible mix of vapors” (1794, originally coal gas); “anesthetic” (1894, originally nitrous oxide); and “poison gas” (1900). As short for gasoline, it is American English, first recorded 1905.
. Abbreviation: GHG.
2. Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases.
3. Greenhouse gas concentrations are measured in parts per million, parts per billion, and even parts per trillion. One part per million is equivalent to one drop of water diluted into about 13 gallons of liquid (roughly the fuel tank of a compact car).
4. A gaseous component of the atmosphere that] retains some of the infra-red radiation from the Earth, contributing to its warming.
While a small quantity of greenhouse gases is produced naturally, the majority is emitted by human activities. The leading greenhouse gas is water vapour, followed by carbon dioxide (CO2). Next come methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3).
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=gas&searchmode=none (last access: 18 December 2014); TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=greenhouse+gas&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 10 March 2023). 2 & 3. EPA – http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases.html (last access: 19 December 2014). 4. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=greenhouse+gas&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 10 March 2023).
SYN: 1. greenhouse-effect gas (rare). 2. CHG.
S: 1. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=greenhouse+gas&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 10 March 2023). 2. GDT (last access: 19 December 2014); TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=greenhouse+gas&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 10 March 2023).
CR: air pollution, biosphere, carbon dioxide, climate change, combustion , CO2 allowance auction, ecology, energy, environment, greenhouse effect, methane , solar energy, stratosphere, stratospheric ozone, tropospheric ozone.
