Greenhouse gases are those gases that trap heat and result in the warming of Earth. There are a number of gases that cause the greenhouse effect, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, halocarbons, and water vapor, among others. Out of all these gases, carbon dioxide gets the most attention. There are a couple of reasons for that. Carbon dioxide is present in the highest concentration among all the greenhouse gases (GHGs). And thus, it has the highest radiative forcing among all the GHGs, which simply means that carbon dioxide has had the highest influence on global warming as compared to all the other GHGs. Another reason for prominence of carbon dioxide is the relative stability of this gas in the atmosphere. Unlike other GHGs, carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for a very long time. Due to these two major reasons, carbon dioxide is the highest priority GHG.
The increase in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide is (mostly) due to consumption of fossil fuels (such as coal, petroleum and natural gas) and deforestation. Fossil fuels have powered the growth of our industry and deforestation has been necessary to make more land available for agriculture or habitation.
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