Which term describes carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and fluorocarbons that absorb solar radiation?

• A. Air pollutants
• B. Ozone layer
• C. Greenhouse Gases
• D. Green energy

Answer: (C)

A key idea is that certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap heat by absorbing infrared radiation emitted by the planet’s surface. This group—carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and fluorocarbons—acts like a blanket, slowing the loss of heat to space and warming the lower atmosphere and surface over time. That heat-trapping behavior is what defines them as greenhouse gases.

Ozone is part of this category in the sense that it absorbs radiation and affects warming, but it also has a distinct role higher up in the atmosphere by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation. The other options don’t describe this heat-trapping class: air pollutants is a broad label not specific to heat absorption, the ozone layer refers to a region with high ozone concentration rather than a gas family, and green energy is unrelated to atmospheric chemistry.