Wait, how do greenhouse gases actually warm the planet?

You probably know that today’s climate change is caused by certain gases—what scientists call greenhouse gases—that human activity has been adding to our atmosphere. But—how do these gases actually keep heat from escaping into space? And why these gases in particular? To help answer these questions, we invited Desiree Plata, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT and the director of the MIT Methane Network.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/wait-how-do-greenhouse-gases-actually-warm-planet

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol