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If the Sun heats our Earth, why does it get colder
the farther you go up in our atmosphere, and then it gets warm again
just before going into outer space? If you have ever traveled by plane,
you would have seen ice crystals form on the outside of the window.
Solar radiation enters the Earth’s atmosphere
usually is in the form of electromagnetic waves. As the Sun’S
rays enters the atmosphere, the radiation gives off heat energy.
As it reflects from the Earth’s surface (land or water) it gives off
heat energy as it reflects. Snow, soil, meadows, concrete, and clouds
all have a different albedo. The albedo is the fraction of light
that is reflected by a body or surface. The atmosphere and Earth
interface like a house of mirrors, producing energy with each
reflection.
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