Heat Budget of the Earth

The balance of incoming and outgoing heat on Earth is referred to as its Heat Budget. As with any budget, to maintain constant conditions the budget must be balanced so that the incoming heat equals the outgoing heat.

Heat Budget

• A heat budget represents a state of equilibrium between the incoming heat from the sun (insolation) absorbed by the Earth and the outgoing heat emitted from the Earth's surface in the form of terrestrial radiation.
• When the inflow and outflow of heat are in perfect balance, the Earth maintains a stable temperature, neither becoming excessively warm nor overly cool.
• This ....