Greenhouse

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Greenhouse

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun

Pronunciation

GREEN-howss  /ˈɡriːnhaʊs/

Definition

A glass or polycarbonate structure in which plants are grown under controlled conditions; in the compound 'greenhouse effect', the atmospheric process by which solar heat is trapped by gases in the atmosphere, causing warming.

Plain meaning

A greenhouse is the glass building used to grow plants in controlled warmth. The greenhouse effect describes how certain atmospheric gases trap heat from the sun, warming the earth — the natural process that, when intensified by human emissions, drives climate change.

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Neutral in both its horticultural and scientific senses. The compound greenhouse gas, greenhouse effect, and greenhouse emissions are now essential vocabulary in environmental and climate contexts. Greenhouse as a growing structure is everyday gardening vocabulary.