My very limited understanding of the subject is that the heat from the sun goes through the atomosphere and then it just kinda bounces between the atomosphere and the earth. Increased greenhouse gasses lead to increased “bounceback”. But shouldn’t increased greenhouse gasses also reduce the heat that enters the system in the first place?
Apologies for any confusion caused by being on mobile and not speaking English as a native language.
In: Biology
I think most people have covered the main answer to your question, which is that the wavelength changes. The only nitpick I have with many explanations is that greenhouse gases don’t “reflect” heat back to Earth. Rather, they absorb it. Those molecules of water vapor, methane, CO2, etc., are warmed up by IR radiation, warming the atmosphere. They can then also radiate the energy themselves but that is not the same as reflecting, which is part of the reason some say that “greenhouse effect” is not a completely accurate name. Such radiated heat goes in all directions, including a portion of it that still ends up radiating in to space.
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