What are Greenhouse Gases?

Greenhouse gases are gases in the earth's atmosphere that trap energy from the sun and keep it within our atmosphere.

The term “greenhouse gas effect” is used to describe the natural process of heat trapped in the earth's atmosphere by various gases called greenhouse gases (GHG). The major greenhouse gases are naturally occurring and include water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4 ), and nitrous oxide (N2O).

While the earth's atmosphere still contains what we consider natural or 'good' greenhouse gases, it is also experiencing an increased build up of human-produced gases. Even though these human produced gases or anthropogenic gases are not as great as the naturally occurring ones, the majority in the scientific community believe that they are creating climate change.

For additional information visit:

• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
• http://greenliving.about.com/od/planetissues/a/GHGSource.htm
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/index.html
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html
• http://www.unep.org/ozone/pdf/Montreal-Protocol2000.pdf