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The balance between energy absorbed by the earth and energy reflected back into space is fundamental in determining how warm or cool the planet becomes. The proportion of radiation reflected away by a surface is called its albedo. Albedo can range between 0 (no reflectance) and 1 (complete reflectanceâlike a mirror). The earthâs average albedo is .31, which means that, overall, the planet reflects about 31% of incoming solar radiation back into space.
Further, the processes are exactly the same whether radiation is incoming or outgoing. The sun does radiate in the infrared and CO2 at the top of the atmosphere absorbs and radiates about half of the incoming infrared radiation at frequencies near 700 cm-1back into space. There is also outgoing infrared radiation that is absorbed and re-radiated back to earth.