Earth Observatory Home NASA Earth Observatory Home Data and Images Features News Reference Missions Experiments Search
NASA's Earth Observatory
 Earth Observatory Navigation Bar
Turn glossary mode on Heat and Energy Pathfinder

Heat & Energy Some of the sun's rays reaching the Earth are reflected back up into space, and some are absorbed and stored as heat energy. Some of this stored heat is later emitted and radiated back into space, but some of the heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and re-radiated back to the surface. Is the Earth currently storing more radiant energy than it reflects and emits back to space? Or, is the "radiation budget" in balance?
 

Reference
·Global Warming
·Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Fact Sheet
·Global Warming Fact Sheet
·Roger Revelle
·Samuel Pierpont Langley
·Sunspots and the Solar Max
·Why isn't Earth Hot as an Oven?
 
Features
·Earth's Temperature Tracker
·Science Blog
·Global Warming Questions and Answers
·Beating the Heat in the World's Big Cities
·Earth's Big Heat Bucket
·Will Runaway Water Warm the World?
·Smoke's Surprising Secret
·Aurora Dancing in the Night
·Dwindling Arctic Ice
·Under a Variable Sun
·A Delicate Balance
·Power to the People
·A Violent Sun Affects the Earth's Ozone
·Watching the Sun
·Carbon Conundrum (DAAC Study)
·On a Clear Day (DAAC Study)
·Questioning Convection (DAAC Study)
·Eye on the Sun
 
Experiments
·Global Dataset Comparison Activities
 
 
Featured Heat & Energy Images
More Heat & Energy Images

Algae Bloom in Antarctic Sea Ice
Algae Bloom in Antarctic Sea Ice

Forest Fire in Patagonia
Forest Fire in Patagonia

Nighttime Eruption on Anatahan
Nighttime Eruption on Anatahan

   
Subscribe to the Earth Observatory
About the Earth Observatory
Contact Us
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
Responsible NASA Official: Lorraine A. Remer
Webmaster: Goran Halusa
We're a part of the Science Mission Directorate