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Geography · Physics
Greenhouse effect and energy balance
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Ground, atmosphere and radiation
Restoring the simulation…
Waves and particles are enlarged; compare energy using the readings.
Changing modes starts a new experiment.
Normalized 0…1 scale, not ppm.
Surface temperature
— °C
Sun has not been turned on
- Incoming
- 0 W/m²
- Outgoing
- 0 W/m²
- Incoming − outgoing
- — W/m²
0 — 1.000 W/m²
Simulation seconds: —
Pin temperature and energy before changing conditions.
The ground absorbs radiation, warms up and emits infrared. The atmosphere absorbs some infrared and emits in both directions. Temperature changes until incoming and outgoing energy approach balance.
Model notes
- Waves, light particles and absorbing layers provide three views of radiative exchange. This simplified educational model is not a weather or climate forecast.
- The greenhouse gas level is normalized from 0 to 1, not ppm. Historical contexts use calibrated educational parameters, not current atmospheric measurements.
- Light speed and displayed wavelengths are rescaled for observation. Particle counts and line thickness are not W/m² readings; energy calculations are independent of the graphics.
- Clouds reflect visible light and ignore infrared interactions in this model. Layers simplify radiation absorption and emission; they are not real glass sheets.
- Seconds represent thermally accelerated simulation time, not real climate time. Temperature is measured in °C and flux in W/m²; near balance means |incoming − outgoing| < 5 W/m².
- The temperature graph samples once per simulation second and retains up to 600 points. Each mode starts a separate experiment; reopening always pauses the simulation.