So what I’m reading is that these gas absorb the light from the sun and keeps it trapped on the earth.
What I don’t get is how is it letting the light and heat in from the sun in, but not the light and heat reflected from the Earth out? If it’s a barrier, shouldn’t it block both ways? If it’s not a barrier, how is it trapping the heat?
In: 950
When the light comes from the sun, it’s mostly visible light that reaches us through the atmosphere. The greenhouse gas doesn’t block this type of light, which is why we can see the sun.
But when the light hits the ground, the ground becomes warm. And warm bodies emit their heat through infrared radiation, which is just like light but is invisible for our eyes. That radiation is then trapped with us on the ground, because the greenhouse gas molecules are absorbing that radiation and radiate away into random directions.
Latest Answers