“Greenhouse gases” cause the warming of the Earth’s surface, surface waters, and the troposphere (the lowest layer of the atmosphere). A significant portion of the solar radiation reaching the Earth is reflected back into space, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere seize or reflect a considerable amount of this reflected radiation back to Earth. The most important greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, and halogenated and fluorinated hydrocarbons. One of the most important of these is carbon dioxide. By analysing samples taken from drillings in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as from deep-sea sediment drillings, researchers have concluded that during the Ice Age, atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane levels correlated with periods of glaciation and warming. During glaciation, the amounts of carbon dioxide and methane decreased significantly, while during warming periods they increased. These changes took place independently of human activity in the distant past, but in the last 100-150 years, compared to natural processes, significantly more greenhouse gases have been released into the atmosphere. It would be difficult not to link this to humans, or more precisely to industrialization, animal husbandry, and other activities that affect the climate. It should also be noted, however, that the effects of these gases only partly influence climate change, and many researchers believe that the role of humans in global warming is „merely” accelerating it, and that it is likely to extend the current interglacial by a few thousand years. Nevertheless, this is far from good news, of course, and could be a cause for serious concern, as accelerated and prolonged warming could drastically alter vegetation belts and local weather patterns, which could lead to the extinction of many animal and plant species.