The Ozone Layer In environmental science the green house effect is a common term for the role water vapor; carbon dioxide and ozone play in keeping the earth’s surface warmer than it would normally be. The atmosphere is primarily transparent to infrared radiation from the sun, which is mostly absorbed by the earth’s surface. The earth being much cooler than the sun, remits radiation most strongly at infrared wavelengths. Water vapor, carbon dioxide and ozone then absorb much of this radiation and remit a large proportion back towards the earth. The atmosphere thus acts as a kind of blanket: without its presents the earth