Figure 4. The radiation absorption characteristics of
water vapour and carbon dioxide as a function of wavelength. The upper
portion of the chart shows the wavelength distribution of radiation emitted
from black bodies radiating at 6000K (approximately the solar photosphere)
and 255K (approximately the earth’s planetary temperature), with the solar
irradiance measured at the mean distance of the earth from the sun. The
percentage absorption of a vertical beam by representative atmospheric
concentrations of water vapour (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are shown
in the lower panels.
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