Why the temperature on the earth is high though the sun rays pass through the cool layers at higher altitude?

Question

The sun rays are coming to the earth passing through the very cool layers (minus temperature) above earth. But it heats the earthern surface. How it does it happen?

Answer 1

The sun's *radiation*, or any radiation for that matter, is not affected by the temperature of the medium it passes through. You're thinking of conduction, which doesn't apply here.

Answer 2

The radiation coming from the sun isn't readily absorbed by the atmosphere. When it hits the surface and raises the surface temperature, the surface reemits radiation of its own at its now higher temperature. Some of this surface radiation is now able to be absorbed by the atmosphere and it heats up. It also heats up by direct contact with the ground. It's a good thing the atmosphere doesn't absorb solar radiation as good as the ground does. The surface would be very cold.

Answer 3

Heat is infared It doesn't convert to heat until it is absorbed by something solid. The atmosphere isn't solid.

Answer 4

Because the atmosphere is transparent to the incoming solar radiation(which is a short-wave radiation) which means it does not absorb the rays thereby allowing the radiation to pass through it without getting affected.Similarly, the incoming solar radiation is also unaffected either by the cooler layers or the warmer layers of the atmosphere.Only in the stratosphere,UV part of the solar radiation is absorbed by ozone layer and the atmosphere is comparatively warmer.So, the incoming solar radiation heats the earth's surface first(by the reflected long-wave radiation) and this heat is passed on to the above layers.

Moreover, the atmosphere is cooler only in the troposphere and the mesoshere.