English: This figure is a simplified, schematic representation of the flows of
temperature of -18 °C (Lashof 1989). Of the surface heat captured by the atmosphere, more than 75% can be attributed to the action of greenhouse gases that absorb thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's surface. The atmosphere in turn transfers the energy it receives both into space (38%) and back to the Earth's surface (62%), where the amount transferred in each direction depends on the thermal and density structure of the atmosphere. This process by which energy is recycled in the atmosphere to warm the Earth's surface is known as the greenhouse effect and is an essential piece of Earth's climate. Under stable conditions, the total amount of energy entering the system from solar radiation will exactly balance the amount being radiated into space, thus allowing the Earth to maintain a constant average temperature over time. However, recent measurements indicate that the Earth is presently absorbing 0.85 ± 0.15 W/m2 more than it emits into space (Hansen et al. 2005). An overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe that this asymmetry in the flow of energy has been significantly increased by human emissions of greenhouse gases [1]. This figure was created by Robert A. Rohde
from published data and is part of the Global Warming Art project.
This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. The original can be viewed here: Greenhouse Effect.svg: .
Licensing
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Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 only as published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.
2007-10-02T17:42:30Z Rugby471 750x577 (20305 Bytes) == Description == {{en|This figure is a simplified, schematic representation of the flows of [[energy]] between [[space]], the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]], and the Earth's surface, and shows how these flows combine to t