How would the greehouse effect be affected if a non-transparent cover was used?

Question

For example, imagine that a container was covered with a cover that is not see through. Would the same amount of heat still be able to escape, or would it be less? Why?

Curly: Yes, I'm asking if less heat would actually be radiated into space because of a change in color. Ignore the fact that heat is also entering the atmosphere.

Answer 1

Heat escapes three ways:
conduction
convection
radiation

You are asking if radiative heat transfer is removed, how does the heat-transfer work?

Assuming a greenhouse with a 1kw/m^2 sun, where most of the light is visible, most of the transfer into the greenhouse is by radiation. Less light gets in. Once it gets in, much of it is transformed to wavelengths that the cover is non-transparent to and the light can not escape.

If you remove that transfer you have only conduction or absorbtion. Heres the problem: if the cover is a poor reflector and a poor emitter, then it soaks up the energy and conductively transfers it.

Without more specificity in the question the answer is going to be pretty vague.

Answer 2

The principle behind the green house effect is that when light enters the container, it is absorbed by the material inside the container and is converted to heat, and that heat is trapped. If the container is not transparent, the light cannot penetrate to heat the inside the container, so it will stay cooler.

If you leave a car in the parking lot in the sun, it gets hot inside. But if you have tinted windows, it doesn't get as hot.

(the light is still absorbed by the colored cover and heat up the contaner itself, and then heat the inside of the container by conduction, but that will not be grennhouse effect)

Answer 3

Transparency of the cover should not make a difference as long as the material the cover is made of is exactly the same.