How does the sun primarily heat the earth?

The primary way the sun heats the Earth is through radiation. This process involves the transfer of energy in the form of electromagnetic waves, which travel through the vacuum of space. The sun emits a broad spectrum of radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and infrared radiation, which reaches the Earth and raises its temperature.

When sunlight reaches the Earth, it interacts with the atmosphere and the surface, warming it. The warmth from the Earth's surface then radiates back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation, contributing to the greenhouse effect, which further maintains the planet's temperature.

While conduction, convection, and advection also play roles in distributing heat within the Earth's atmosphere and across its surface, they are not the primary methods by which solar energy reaches the Earth. Instead, conduction involves heat transfer through direct contact, convection refers to the movement of heat through fluids, and advection is the horizontal movement of air and heat. These processes occur after the solar radiation has been absorbed, making radiation the fundamental mechanism by which the sun heats our planet.