Our atmosphere is made up of a mix of gases that sustain life by absorbing some solar radiation to heat the planet, allow livings things to breathe, and by transporting water. Nitrogen (78%) and ...

While carbon dioxide, or CO 2, is the best known greenhouse gas, several others, including methane and nitrous oxide, are also driving global warming and altering the Earth's climate. CO 2 accounts ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 1896, the Swedish physicist Svante Arrhenius realized that carbon dioxide (CO 2) traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere—the phenomenon now ...