Over cloud, snow and ice, radiation from the sun is simply reflected back out to space with little effect. The earth warms the air above it in three ways. Convection when air warmed by contact becomes less dense than surrounding air and, being buoyant, rises.

Most of the electromagnetic radiation that comes to the earth from the sun is invisible. Only a small portion comes as visible light. Most of the solar radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere and much of what reaches the earth’s surface is radiated back into the atmosphere to become heat energy.

Since the sun is not in direct contact with our atmosphere, the sun does not heat our atmospheric air directly. If it was heated directly, we would long have been carbonized. Instead, the sun heats our atmosphere indirectly through radiation. Radiation does not require contact and can transfer heat through empty space.

Explanation: Usually when we talk about uneven heating of the Earth’s surface we are discussing convection. The uneven heating results in some of the atmosphere to be warmer than other parts and changes in volume and pressure which result in updrafts and can cause thunderstorms and other violent weather.

Earth’s orbit around the sun and its rotation on a tilted axis causes some parts of Earth to receive more solar radiation than others. This uneven heating produces global circulation patterns. For example, the abundance of energy reaching the equator produces hot humid air that rises high into the atmosphere.

The uneven heating causes temperature differences, which in turn cause air currents (wind) to develop, which then move heat from where there is more heat (higher temperatures) to where there is less heat (lower temperatures). The atmosphere thus becomes a giant “heat engine”, continuously driven by the sun.