What happens to the solar energy that reaches Earth's surface, but is not reflected back into space?

1 Answer
James J.
Jan 10, 2017

It is absorbed.

Explanation:

The energy that reaches the Earth's surface (primarily visible light) is absorbed by the Earth. This increases the temperature of the Earth and then that absorbed energy is released as heat. This is a change of the wavelength of the energy from around 0.5 microns to around 11 microns.

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