Quantcast
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us

Earth Revs its Heat Engine

Credit: Image courtesy Barbara Summey, NASA Goddard Visualization Analysis Lab, Posted on: Saturday, 8 November 2003, 06:00 CST Download full size image

Absorption of solar energy heats up our planet’s surface and the atmosphere and makes life for us possible. But the energy cannot stay bound up in the Earth’s environment forever. If it did then the Earth would be as hot as the Sun. Instead, as the surface and the atmosphere warm, they emit thermal longwave radiation, some of which escapes into space and allows the Earth to cool. This false-color image of the Earth was produced on September 30, 2001, by the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument flying aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft. The image shows where more or less heat, in the form of longwave radiation, is emanating from the top of Earth’s atmosphere.






More Images

Mars
Movement from Spirit's Third Extrication Drive.This blink comparison aids evaluation of a drive by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the ...

Universe
The Crab Nebula: A Cosmic Icon.A star's spectacular death in the constellation Taurus was observed on Earth as the supernova of 105...



redOrbit Friends


Quiz Me

What is the avergae body temperature of the domestic cat?
98.6 F
99.2 F
100.3 F
101.5 F
or View Results