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How does a carbon atom absorb sunlight?
I understand the concept of the greenhouse effect but I was wondering if anyone knew how a greenhouse gas actually traps the sunlight?
why does it re radiate heat back into the earth's atmosphere rather than back into space?
1 Answer
- andy_goodnightLv 41 decade agoFavorite Answer
The word 'trap' is an often used one and is not really correct.
Carbon dioxide absorbs heat from the earths surface. In the same way as if you put a plate in the oven the plate would absorb the heat from the oven.
As the CO2 heats up, it reradiates the heat, thus warming the atmosphere. Similarly you take the plate out of the oven and put it on the side, it cools down only slowly, the heat from the plate warms the work surface etc.
