INFRARED-ACTIVE GASES
The surface of the earth is warmed mostly by radiation from the sun, and some of this heat energy is distributed to the atmosphere, mostly by conduction, convection, and evaporation and condensation.
A very small fraction of this heat from the earth’s surface is radiated towards space in the form of infrared (IR) radiation, and a small proportion of this is absorbed by infrared-active molecules (molecules capable of absorbing IR radiation), which gives these molecules…
