(a) On the energy input side ... how do greenhouse gases impact the passage of visible photons of radiation from the sun headed downward toward the Earth's ground surface? (Do not consider the impact of clouds. There are 2 possibilities ... either visible photons from the sun get absorbed by greenhouse gases or greenhouse gases allow visible photons from the sun to pass through) (b) On the energy output side ... how do greenhouse gases impact the passage of infrared photons of radiation emitted upward from the ground surface into the atmosphere toward outer space? (There are 2 possibilities ... either infrared photons emitted by the Earth's surface get absorbed by greenhouse gases or greenhouse gasses allow infrared photons to pass through) (c) More on the energy output side ... Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere emit infrared photons of radiation. Some of these photons go upward into outer space and some of these photons come downward and are absorbed by the Earth's surface. Describe the overall impact of greenhouse gases on the loss of energy by the Earth's surface by infrared radiation, i.e., infrared radiation energy emitted upward from the surface minus absorbed infrared radiation energy coming downward from greenhouse gases.
(a) On the energy input side ... how do greenhouse gases impact the passage of visible photons of radiation from the sun headed downward toward the Earth's ground surface? (Do not consider the impact of clouds. There are 2 possibilities ... either visible photons from the sun get absorbed by greenhouse gases or greenhouse gases allow visible photons from the sun to pass through)
(b) On the energy output side ... how do greenhouse gases impact the passage of infrared photons of radiation emitted upward from the ground surface into the atmosphere toward outer space? (There are 2 possibilities ... either infrared photons emitted by the Earth's surface get absorbed by greenhouse gases or greenhouse gasses allow infrared photons to pass through)
(c) More on the energy output side ... Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere emit infrared photons of radiation. Some of these photons go upward into outer space and some of these photons come downward and are absorbed by the Earth's surface. Describe the overall impact of greenhouse gases on the loss of energy by the Earth's surface by infrared radiation, i.e., infrared radiation energy emitted upward from the surface minus absorbed infrared radiation energy coming downward from greenhouse gases.
(d) Pull this together and explain how the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere keeps the ground surface warmer than it would be if there were no greenhouse gases by considering how greenhouse gases impact radiation energy input from the sun to the ground and the energy output from the surface, which is infrared radiation emitted by the ground minus infrared radiation absorbed by the ground.
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