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the Earth, as viewed from the Sun, receives a roughly stable 1361W/m² at all times. The area of this circular disc is , in which is the radius of the Earth. Because the Earth is approximately spherical, it has total area , meaning that the solar radiation arriving at the top of the atmosphere, averaged over the entire surface of the Earth, is simply divided by four to get 340W/m². In other words, averaged over the year and the day, the Earth's atmosphere receives 340W/m²

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