The greenhouse effect and the Earth's energy balance

Learning objectives

Define the solar constant, and calculate the average intensity incident on the Earth's surface by allowing for the geometry of a rotating sphere intercepting a beam

Define albedo, and explain how ice cover, cloud cover, vegetation and land use change the fraction of incident solar radiation that is reflected

Explain the greenhouse effect in terms of the absorption and re-emission of infrared radiation by carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane and nitrous oxide, relating the absorption to resonance of the molecular vibration with the radiation

Construct an energy balance for the Earth and explain how an imbalance between the incoming solar radiation and the outgoing longwave radiation changes the average surface temperature

Combine emissivity with the Stefan–Boltzmann law to estimate the average surface temperature of a planet, and compare the estimate with the measured value

Analyse data on intensity, albedo, greenhouse gas concentration and surface temperature to evaluate a claim about enhanced greenhouse warming