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What would the Earth be like without the greenhouse effect? Again, open the Planetary Climates learning tool, navigate to the 'Build A Planet' learning tool, and enter the following conditions to create Earth:

Worked Example

Question: What would Earth's temperature be if the planet had no greenhouse effect?

Change the greenhouse value to 0, as shown on the right. How does the radiation balance change?

Now try to restore the radiation balance by changing the temperature.

With a decreased greenhouse effect, more energy will be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a cooling effect. Adjust the temperature until the energy is once again balanced. We find that with zero greenhouse effect, the average temperature of Earth is roughly -24°C. That is 39°C colder than it is now!

Your Turn

Question: If Earth's greenhouse effect increases (for example, to 0.75), how would the planet's radiation balance and temperature be affected?

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