It Makes Earth Habitable

The Thermal Flywheel Effect, that is, mass of the soil, air & water absorbs heat from the daytime, and carries it to the night-time. This is what keeps Earth above the temperatures at which Earth would be a permanent Ice-Ball. The Moon has a small Thermal Flywheel Effect of about 3 deg C, as the dusty, insulating soil only heats to about 1 foot deep. On Earth, we have an atmosphere, water and more conductive soil, and we have a warming of about 33 deg C, most due to the Thermal Flywheel. The "Greenhouse" is a separate effect, reflecting back a tiny portion of the heat radiated out from the Earth. (c) Photos by Harold 2011

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• Ecology
• Global Warming
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