What is the greenhouse effect?
The Greenhouse Effect is when heat from sunlight is trapped in our atmosphere (basically like a greenhouse). When sunlight reaches the surface of the earth, some of it is absorbed which warms the earth and some is redirected back to space.
Greenhouse gases that lie in the atmosphere are able to redirect some of this heat back to the earth. Since the heat can't escape into space, it continues to add up which then warms up the earth. This is what we call the "greenhouse effect".1 So the more greenhouse gas you have the more heat stays on earth.
The result of the greenhouse effect is global warming and climate change. There is some confusion about the two terms and they are some times thought to mean the same thing. In reality climate change is a result of global warming. The reason why people are starting to use the term climate change more frequently is because it suggests that something more than just a mere rise in temperature is happening.
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