... and contains light, as well as such things as infrared radiation and ultra-violet radiation. A small fraction of this radiation arrives at the earth's atmosphere, where some of it is absorbed, but in the most part it passes through to the surface of the earth. The molecules that make up the surface reflect much of this, but also absorb some. This increases the frequency of their vibrations; they are heated up. The heat dissipates out into the air around the surface and into the surrounding earth. Some of the energy is radiated back out; largely as infrared radiation because the particles don't get hot enough to emit much light but neither are they cool enough to emit micro or radio waves. Gasses in the atmosphere then absorb the radiation, or it passes through into space. Some gasses are more absorbent than others, just as some materials are opaque whilst others ...

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