Greenhouse: One vs Two Slabs
A stack of blackbody isothermal atmospheric shells in radiative balance with shortwave absorption (1−α)S/4 at the surface illustrates how adding layers increases surface temperature while keeping effective emission temperature tied to outgoing longwave. Compare one shell (σT₁⁴ = 2S₀) with two shells (σT₂⁴ = 4S₀) in the same normalized flux units.
Who it's for: Climate physics introductions contrasting gray-slab counts.
Key terms
- Greenhouse effect
- Energy balance
- Albedo
- Effective temperature
S₀ = (1−α)S/4 is absorbed shortwave per unit area in this cartoon; see also the single gray-slab simulator in Astronomy for emissivity-based variants.
Live graphs
How it works
Analytic comparison of effective temperature versus surface temperature for idealized one- and two-shell greenhouse models at the same planetary albedo.
Frequently asked questions
- Why black shells instead of emissivity sliders?
- To keep the algebra closed-form; see the astronomy single-slab simulator for emissivity-based gray variants.
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