greenhouse warming
- noun
- /ˈɡriːnˌhaʊs ˈwɔːrmɪŋ/
- Specialized
- The rise in sea levels is a direct consequence of greenhouse warming caused by increased carbon emissions.
- reduce greenhouse warming
- cause greenhouse warming
Examples
-
The greenhouse warming is already changing ocean currents.
Fiction book (2001) -
Changes in the ocean's overturning are one of the most important feedbacks in greenhouse warming scenarios.
Academic text (1994) -
That could stop the greenhouse warming in a year or two.
Fiction book (2001) -
Water in the form of ice crystals can also contribute to greenhouse warming.
Academic text (1991) -
The international aspects of greenhouse warming are discussed in Chapter 7.
Academic text (1992) -
Recent research has suggested that greenhouse warming may lead to significant cooling of the polar regions.
Academic text (1998) -
The report identifies what should be done now to counter potential greenhouse warming or deal with its likely consequences.
Academic text (1992) -
So Dyson suspects that the problem of greenhouse warming is not as grave as many believe.
Academic text (2010) -
Natural variability has been shown over the past two decades to have a magnitude that dominates the greenhouse warming effect.
Blog text (31) -
Ozone levels in the Arctic and Antarctic should begin to recover due to reductions in chlorofluorocarbon production, but greenhouse warming may exacerbate losses of the gas in the polar regions.
Academic text (1998)
Synonyms
A gradual rise in Earth's average temperature caused mainly by burning coal, oil, and gas
The air around the Earth becomes warmer because some gases trap heat from the sun
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The overall meaning is directly compositional: 'greenhouse' (relating to gases that trap heat) modifies 'warming' (an increase in temperature), so together they denote warming caused by the greenhouse effect. This scientific compound follows regular adjective+noun composition and appears in many languages and basic education, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Greenhouse warming comes from the image of a greenhouse — a glass building that lets sunlight in and keeps heat inside. People use that picture to show how Earth's air and gases act like the glass, 'trapping' heat and causing warming, so the phrase means the rise in the planet's temperature.