Editing Greenhouse effect (section)

=== Energy flux ===
Energy [[flux]] is the rate of energy flow per unit area. Energy flux is expressed in units of W/m<sup>2</sup>, which is the number of [[joule]]s of energy that pass through a square meter each second. Most fluxes quoted in high-level discussions of climate are global values, which means they are the total flow of energy over the entire globe, divided by the surface area of the Earth, {{convert|5.1e14|m2|km2 mi2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="utarea">{{cite web |title=What is the Surface Area of the Earth? |url=https://www.universetoday.com/25756/surface-area-of-the-earth/ |website=Universe Today |date=11 February 2017 |access-date=1 June 2023}}</ref>

The fluxes of radiation arriving at and leaving the Earth are important because [[radiative transfer]] is the only process capable of exchanging energy between Earth and the rest of the universe.<ref name="Wallace2006"/>{{rp|145}}