Greenhouse Effect & Energy Balance

—

About this simulation

Explore Earth’s incoming sunlight and outgoing infrared radiation. Change albedo and atmospheric absorption, then watch the surface warm or cool.

What students can explore

Keep albedo fixed and increase infrared absorption. What happens before the new equilibrium?
One-layer teaching model: sunlight passes through the atmosphere; infrared absorptivity ε also sets emission. OLR=σT⁴(1−ε/2); absorbed sunlight=1361(1−albedo)/4 W/m². Atmosphere adjusts instantly; surface heat capacity is 10 MJ/m²/K. Clouds, convection, oceans and feedbacks are omitted. This is not a climate forecast.

Learning objectives

1Keep albedo fixed and increase infrared absorption. What happens before the new equilibrium?

Questions teachers ask

Keep albedo fixed and increase infrared absorption. What happens before the new equilibrium?

Less energy initially escapes to space, so the surface warms. Outgoing radiation rises until it matches absorbed sunlight at a higher temperature.

About the model

One-layer teaching model: sunlight passes through the atmosphere; infrared absorptivity ε also sets emission. OLR=σT⁴(1−ε/2); absorbed sunlight=1361(1−albedo)/4 W/m². Atmosphere adjusts instantly; surface heat capacity is 10 MJ/m²/K. Clouds, convection, oceans and feedbacks are omitted. This is not a climate forecast.

Embed this simulation

Drop it into your LMS, blog, or class site — free.

<iframe src="https://kiwibee.io/en/simulations/greenhouse-effect-energy-balance-simulation/embed" title="Greenhouse Effect &amp; Energy Balance | KiwiBee" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen style="width:100%;height:min(70vh,620px);min-height:420px;border:0;border-radius:16px"></iframe>

Continue exploring

Explore an adult male reference body in 3D. Reveal 14 anatomical systems, search thousands of named structures, isolate organs, and pull 2,209 modeled pieces apart to see how the body is organized.

—

Explore the head and neck in 3D: 643 source meshes across 14 layers, 47 facial and masticatory muscles, and 77 drawn nerves, vessels and glands the source scan omits. Open any tooth onto its own pulp canal, and follow the seven stages of tooth development.

—