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Thermal radiation is a common synonym for infrared radiation emitted by objects at temperatures often encountered on Earth. Thermal radiation refers not only to the radiation itself, but also the process by which the surface of an object radiates its thermal energy in the form of black-body radiation. Infrared or red radiation from a common ...
The ozone–oxygen cycle is the process by which ozone is continually regenerated in Earth's stratosphere, converting ultraviolet radiation (UV) into heat. In 1930 Sydney Chapman resolved the chemistry involved. The process is commonly called the Chapman cycle by atmospheric scientists.
Air showers are extensive cascades of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei, produced in the atmosphere when a primary cosmic ray enters the atmosphere. Particles of cosmic radiation can be protons, nuclei, electrons, photons, or (rarely) positrons. Upon entering the atmosphere, they interact with molecules and initiate a particle cascade that ...
The interaction between emitted longwave radiation and the atmosphere is complicated due to the factors that affect absorption. The path of the radiation in the atmosphere also determines radiative absorption: longer paths through the atmosphere result in greater absorption because of the cumulative absorption by many layers of gas.
When a molecule absorbs a photon, it increases the energy of the molecule. This heats the atmosphere, but the atmosphere also cools by emitting radiation, as discussed below. The combined absorption spectra of the gases in the atmosphere leave "windows" of low opacity, allowing the transmission of only certain bands of light.
In this process the light electron obtains a high velocity so that the temperature of the created electronic gas is much higher (of the order of thousand K) than the one of ions and neutrals. The reverse process to ionization is recombination, in which a free electron is "captured" by a positive ion. Recombination occurs spontaneously, and ...
Also, since climate change is causing sea ice to melt, what occurs is the sea ice releases molecular chlorine, which reacts with UV radiation to produce chlorine radicals. Because chlorine radicals are highly reactive, they can expedite the degradation of methane and tropospheric ozone and the oxidation of mercury to more toxic forms. [ 40 ]
The Earth-atmosphere system is radiatively cooled, emitting long-wave radiation which balances the absorption of short-wave (visible light) energy from the sun. Convective transport of heat, and evaporative transport of latent heat are both important in removing heat from the surface and distributing it in the atmosphere.