Answer to Question #128399 in Physics for Istar

Question

how can black body radiation be used to evaluate risks associated with anthropogenic climate change

Answer 1

According to famous definition that Wikipedia uses as well:

"Black-body radiation is the thermal electromagnetic radiation within or surrounding a body in thermodynamic equilibrium with its environment, emitted by a black body (an idealized opaque, non-reflective body)."

In other words, since our planet is in thermal equilibrium with its surroundings, we can apply equations and theories that work for black-body radiation. It means that we can calculate the effective temperature of Earth. What happens if we heat the planet up? Right, the thermal equilibrium will change to a new state.

Now the effective temperature of Earth is -18.8°C. Conducting new observations, measurements, and calculations, we can obtain the current effective temperature. Observing how the effective temperature changes with time, we see the dynamics of this change and can evaluate risks associated with anthropogenic climate change.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation