When it condenses, the water vapor gives up its latent into the atmosphere. This is one way heat is transferred from the surface to the higher regions of the atmosphere. The sun emits much more energy than the earth. The sun has a temperature of around 6000 K, while the earth is only about 300 K. Using the Sefan-Boltzmann law, it can be shown that the sun radiates about 160,000 times as much energy as the earth. Explain how selective absorbers in the atmosphere raise the Earth's surface temperature.
Selective absorbers absorb only certain types of radiation.
The sun's energy, in the visible part of the spectrum, passes right through these gases and warms the surface of the earth. The surface, on the other hand, tries to cool by emitting infrared radiation out into space. These greenhouse gases absorb the radiation and reradiate the heat back towards the surface, which inhibits the earth from cooling. This in turn raises the surface temperature above what it would be without the selective absorbers. A convection cell is volume of air that is warmer than the surrounding air.