ABSTRACT
Earth’s global climate is determined by a balance between absorbed solar radiation and emitted infrared radiation. The amount of absorbed solar radiation in turn is determined by the sun’s emissions and the Earth’s re‚ectivity, primarily the fraction of the planet covered by clouds and ice. Infrared emissions come predominantly from gases in the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and many more. The atmosphere also emits energy toward Earth, keeping it warmer than it would otherwise be, and providing roughly twice the energy as is provided by absorbed solar energy (e.g., Trenberth et al. 2009). At the surface, the absorbed solar energy plus atmospheric infrared energy is balanced globally by radiation of infrared radiation plus latent and sensible heat ‚ux (Trenberth et al. 2009), all of which are mediated by vegetation, especially moisture ‚uxes. In turn, the expression of global climate and of atmospheric ‚uctuations helps determine the distribution, health, function, reproductive rates, and much more, of organisms on the landscape.
