[ableChair]

The "other guy" is determined to believe that 95% of the sun's radiant energy doesn't make it to the ground

Ahhh, you're flailing again. Let's see if you see any difference in the meaning of these two sentences:

1.) "95% of the sun's radiant energy doesn't make it to the ground".

2.) 95% of the suns energy does not reach the Earth's surface in radiative form.

Like I said, you're flailing.

Do you see the difference? Statement 2 is the form we want for the laser discussion, not form 1. Think about it.

[Dan Evans]

2.) 95% of the suns energy does not reach the Earth's surface in radiative form.

Post 413 shows a diagram. 51 percent of the sunlight reaches the earth in radiative form. No, not convective thermal heat -- radiation, some diffuse, some direct.

These numbers are used in climate science and take into consideration light that is blocked, absorbed or transmitted through or by clouds over the long term.

We are not interested in clouds. A laser terrorist will take the day off on overcast days.

So I've shown how, even these numbers. result in a fifty percent attenuation of red light but a better way to calculate this is to use the Beers-Lambert Law.

Db and Cboldt did that for you.