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How is the Atmosphere Heated?

Updated: Mar 11

Every day, the Sun rises, and the surface of the Earth and the atmosphere warm up. After the Sun sets, the surface and atmosphere cool down. Use this interactive to explore how the atmosphere is heated. Notice how the particles of the ground and the air interact or do not interact with energy from sunlight and infrared radiation.


After exploring the interactive, jot down your reflection or discuss the following with your class:

  • How does sunlight transfer energy to the ground particles?

  • What energy is emitted by the ground particles?

  • How do the ground particles transfer energy to the air molecules?

  • What happens to the infrared radiation when it interacts with air molecules?

  • How is the energy of ground particles and air molecules related to temperature?


Credits

Climate Education Pathways.

See the About the Data and Representations section in the interactive for more details.

Copyright © 2025 BSCS Science Learning. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The development of this material was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL 2100808. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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