Does the Earth accumulate the energy it receives from the Sun, or does it reflect all of it back into space?

Question

I understand that the sun gives energy primarily in the form of sunlight, which contains various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. If the earth absorbs some of the energy, does the earth’s “total energy” accumulate?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

(Almost*) All of the energy the earth receives is eventually radiated away. There has to be an equilibrium, else the planet will heat up or cool down until there is an equilibrium again.

*Of course, a small, small portion of the energy gets captured as chemical energy by photosynthesis and stored as plant and animal matter gets buried under sediments, but that amount is negligible compared to the total insolation.

Also with the current greenhouse gas crisis, Earth is radiating less than it receives and is heating up. But if we ever stop releasing CO2, the Earth will eventually reach an equilibrium again, as the hotter something is, the more energy it radiates.