What is the greenhouse effect? | Global Ideas?

The greenhouse effect is like having a blanket that keeps Earth warm.

Imagine you're wearing a cozy sweater on a chilly day, it traps your body heat and keeps you from getting too cold. The greenhouse effect works in a similar way, but instead of a sweater, Earth has a special kind of cover made by gases in the air, like carbon dioxide and methane.

When sunlight reaches Earth, some of it warms up our planet. Then, Earth sends that heat back into space, like when you're done playing outside and you go back inside to cool down. But the greenhouse gases act like a blanket, trapping that heat and keeping Earth nice and warm.

Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be much colder, more like a freezer than a cozy room! But if there are too many greenhouse gases, it's like wearing too many sweaters, Earth gets warmer than it should. That’s why scientists watch how much heat is being trapped, so we can keep our planet just right for everyone to enjoy.