Not exact matches
They don't have to be scientists to understand that the higher energy waves
of visible light from the Sun can penetrate through CO2,
H2O, CH4, NOZ etal in the atmosphere, but the lower energy radiation
of infra - red waves, from
Earth's surface, have problems getting back
out through these molecules, and a new energy balance has to be established in the form
of rising temperature.
The key point is that, as hartlod (tm)'s little article attests to, is that all this energy eventually heads
out of the
Earth's system / boundry but what hartlod (tm) doesn't talk about is that the effect
of CO2 and
H2O's absorption
of reemitted energy from the
Earth which is to «delay» the escape
of the energy, thus piling it up and increasing overall temp.
I do not think anyone has successfully figured
out what the «baseline» temperature
of the
earth would be with an atmosphere
of mostly N2 and O2, with some CH4 and
H2O, but without CO2.
When
H2O concentration gets high enough, water condenses
out, forming clouds, which block / reflect sunlight (this is NEGATIVE feedback) reducing the temperature
of the
earth.