At night, clouds act as a blanket by ____.

The correct choice is founded on the thermal dynamics of the atmosphere and the behavior of clouds during the night. Clouds play a significant role in regulating Earth's temperature through their interaction with radiation. At night, when the sun is not shining, the Earth's surface cools down and emits infrared radiation. Clouds absorb some of this outgoing radiation, preventing it from escaping into space entirely. This process contributes to a warming effect, akin to a blanket, by retaining heat near the Earth's surface.

The other options do not accurately describe the role of clouds at night. For instance, reflecting incoming solar radiation pertains to daytime conditions when clouds can shield the Earth from sunlight, but this is not relevant during the nighttime when there is no incoming solar radiation. Likewise, while clouds can reflect radiation, the focus at night is on absorbing outgoing radiation rather than reflecting it. The role of absorbing incoming solar radiation is also misplaced during nighttime, as there is no sunlight for clouds to absorb.