The gradual warming of a planet by an atmosphere's conversion of incoming solar radiation into heat (discovered in 1824 by Jean Baptiste Fourier). This natural effect is amplified by growing quantities of greenhouse gasses--carbon dioxide, nitroux oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozone, and methane--that trap reflected radiant energy as it tries to leave the planet. Some would see a tragic, bitter irony in using up topsoil, polluting the rivers and oceans, and blackening the atmosphere while unconsciously converting the entire world into a giant greenhouse. See Global Warming.