Earth's Energy Budget, Solar Radiation

Take away ideas and understandings

• Energy cycle of absorbed sunlight, emitted heat, and transport drives weather and climate.

• Intensity of sunlight decreases with distance according to inverse square law.

• Clouds and surface types regulate absorption of sunlight.

• Emitted hear is very sensitive to small changes in temperature.

• Hot objects (e.g., Sun) radiate more, and radiate at shorter wavelengths than cool objects (e.g., Earth).

Link to detailed lecture notes