GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere repeatedly absorb and re-radiate infrared radiation (heat). High clouds trap longwave, infrared radiation (heat) re-radiated from Earth’s surface. However, low clouds reflect incoming sunlight (shortwave radiation) back to space.

Detailed explanation-2: -Greenhouse gases are molecules that have the ability to trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. Learn the physics behind how greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, which leads to global warming.

Detailed explanation-3: -GREENHOUSE EFFECT Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (such as water vapor and carbon dioxide) absorb most of the Earth’s emitted longwave infrared radiation, which heats the lower atmosphere.

Detailed explanation-4: -So it important to realize that the greenhouse gases don’t trap incoming short wave radiation, but rather the long wave radiation that is emitted by the Earth’s surface due to absorbing the short wave radiation.

Detailed explanation-5: -Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, reduce the amount of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) to space; thus, energy accumulates in the climate system, and the planet warms.