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