XPost: alt.global-warming, sci.skeptic   
   From: sam@spade.invalid   
      
   Attila  wrote:   
      
   > A greenhouse gas (GHG) is a gas in Earth's atmosphere that   
   > traps heat, acting like the glass in a greenhouse to keep   
   > the planet warm enough to support life by absorbing and   
   > re-radiating infrared energy (heat) emitted from the   
   > surface,   
      
   Not completely true. The "greenhouse effect" in a real greenhouse is   
   when IR radiated from inside the warm greenhouse is reflected by the   
   glass back into the greenhouse.  CO2 retains the earth's heat not by   
   reflecting IR radiated by the earth, but by absorption and re-emission   
   of the IR in all directions, including down.   
      
   Reflection and absorption/re-emission are 2 different things.   
      
   Whether it's a popular misconception or inane detail, calling the CO2   
   effect "greenhouse warming" is misleading.   
      
   Now you will be in the know when others babble. YWIA.   
      
      
   >  with major examples including Carbon Dioxide (CO2),   
   > Methane (CH4), and Nitrous Oxide (N2O), released by both   
   > natural processes and human activities like burning fossil   
   > fuels and agriculture.   
      
      
   PS. It's good manners to include attributions for material you   
   copy-n-paste.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)