How does CO2 trap heat? And why is it that methane traps even more heat?
In: Chemistry
The sun’s energy comes to earth largely as visible light. CO2 and methane are transparent to visible light. The light heats up the earth. The warm earth radiates energy back into space, cooling it. The energy radiated back out is primarily infrared light. CO2 and methane are opaque to infrared light, so they prevent that energy from going back into space.
A greenhouse gas is any gas that is transparent to visible to light and opaque to infrared light. “Stronger” greenhouse gasses are more opaque to infrared than weaker greenhouse gasses.
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