[palmer]

How does the flame (ground) ignore IR photons sent from the ice cube (CO2). A related question: what impact does the earth have on the sun’s temperature? You may say none since the sun is much hotter. That’s almost correct, there’s almost no impact. But it is not zero.

[justa-hairyape]

The IR photons from the cube have much less energy (longer wave length) then the flame. Therefore they cannot make the flames excitation state greater (shorter wavelength). The flame is melting the cube. The cube is cooling the flame. Temperature is the excitation state of atoms. You cannot excite them much more with energy that is significantly less than they already have. Unless of course you split the atoms.

The Earth is the ice cube. The sun is the flame. The sun is heating the Earth. The Earth is cooling the sun. Although it is more or less insignificant. Put some food under an infrared warming light. Is the food making the infrared bulb hotter ?