Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
There's an interesting point in the middle of this:
Harvesting solar energy for our needs does not force the climate. |
The Earth / atmosphere / Solar constant, as a 'system' doesn't change thermodynamically. While the total energy may transform from one form to another, it's magnitude is fixed.
Whether we actively 'use' the energy or not makes no difference to the system.
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Using solar energy to supplant fossil-fuel-derived energy 'WOULD' make a difference to the 'system', which is WHY we would do it. And it would have to do with Earth's black-body radiation dynamics.