Greenhouse effect
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The Greenhouse Effect (or "atmospheric effect") is a general attribute of planets and moons with atmospheres. It is an imbalance between surface radiation and top-of-atmosphere radiation due to the presence of greenhouse gases. For example, in the case of the Earth, the surface emits 390 W/m**2 (averaged over a year and the whole surface), but the emission at the top of the atmosphere is 235 W/m**2, giving a global-average greenhouse effect of 155 W/m**2[1]. The top-of-atmosphere outgoing radiation balances the incoming 235 W/m**2 of solar radiation (342 W/m**2 incident minus 107 W/m**2 reflected).
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References
- ↑ Trenberth et al., 1996. in Climate change 1995: The science of climate change, Cambridge Univ. Press.