Why does earth not overheat from constantly receiving energy from the sun?
1 Answer
Nov 8, 2017
The earth also reflects and radiates energy into space. A balance is maintained.
Explanation:
GOOD question! It is at the heart of the concerns about global warming caused by atmospheric changes. The amount of solar energy received, absorbed, reflected and re-radiated all combine into the "overall" temperature of the planet.
Changing one or more of those factors shifts the equilibrium (balance) point to a new value. Geologically we have seen periods much colder, and some hotter. The current concern is the impact human activities have on primarily the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere, which affects the adsorbed/retained infrared heat energy from the sun.
