Here is the recommended reading that I reference in my above lecture:

Greenhouse Effect explanation, from Joseph Romm, Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know (2016), pp 1-2:

The greenhouse effect has made life as we know it possible. The basic physics has been understood for well over a century. The sun pours out intense amounts of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including ultraviolet and infrared. The sun’s peak intensity is in visible light. Of the solar energy hit- ting the top of the atmosphere, one third is reflected back into space—by the atmosphere itself and the Earth’s surface (land, ocean, and ice). The rest is absorbed, mostly by the Earth, especially our oceans. This process heats up the planet. The Earth reradiates the energy it has absorbed mostly as heat in the form of infrared radiation. Some naturally occurring atmospheric gases let visible light escape through into space while trapping certain types of infrared radiation. These greenhouse gases, including water, methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide (CO2), trap some of the reradiated heat, so they act as a partial blanket that helps keep the planet as much as 60°F warmer than it otherwise would be, which is ideal for us humans. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution 250 years ago, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were approximately 280 parts per million (ppm). Since then, humankind has been pouring billions of tons of extra greenhouse gases into the atmo- sphere, causing more and more heat to be trapped. The main human-caused greenhouse gas is CO2, and the rate of growth of human-caused CO2 emissions has been accelerating. Emissions today are six times higher than they were in 1950. Moreover, CO2 levels have now hit 400 parts per million. As a result, the Earth has warmed 1.5°F (0.85°C) since 1900. Most of this warming, approximately 1°F, has occurred only since 1970.

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