As the earth is constantly heated by the sun and we have the law of conservation of energy. Why is the Earth not constantly warming up?

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So we have long-term Ice-Ages, but also relatively short term ([https://www.currentresults.com/Environment-Facts/changes-in-earth-temperature.php](https://www.currentresults.com/Environment-Facts/changes-in-earth-temperature.php)).

When the temperature is going down (on average), where does the energy go?

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PS. I am fully convinced we have climate change, we are the problem, etc. I only care about the ‘scientific’ answer.

In: Earth Science

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Not a professional, so I can only give you a glimpse, till someone gives you a very accurate answer.

The heat from the sun is emitted through light rays, which is also called solar radiation. The earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar radiation through the ocean, land and even clouds, clouds making up to 50% of the reflected energy.

However, the most important part about the reflection and absorption does the ozone layer, which is the outer “gas” layer of the earth. It absorbs around 95% of harmful UV lights that are emitted from the sun.

Because of our “natural” reflection, the ozone layer, as well as the clouds, we are able to have the incoming heat be reduced by a lot.

Now, due to the release of certain gases, Halogen gases, we destroy the ozone layer. Halogen gases can be found in pretty much everything around us.

The release of halogen gases into the air will have the effect of destroying the molecules of the ozone layer, which in return leaves “holes” (ozone holes) that impacts the earth by a lot, because due to the created holes, more heat and harmful UV lights are absorbed by the earth and can even have health risks for us humans. You can imagine that a full block cheese will take longer to heat up, compared to a cheese full of holes.

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