Understanding the Earth’s energy balance is essential to understanding the issue of global warming. For example, the solar energy striking Earth’s surface averages 168 watts per square meter (W/m2), but the energy leaving Earth’s surface averages 390 W/m2. Why isn’t Earth cooling rapidly? Some of the energy emitted from the Earth’s surface goes directly out to the space, while most of it doesn’t. The clouds and gases in the atmosphere reabsorb the emitted energy, causing some of it to be […]