Exam 2: Energy: Warming Earth and the Atmosphere

Will a rising parcel of air always expand? Does this expansion cause the air temperature to increase or decrease?

In the discussion of Earth's annual energy balance, we saw that Earth absorbed approximately 51 units of solar energy but emitted 117 units of infrared energy. What prevents Earth from getting colder and colder?

The atmosphere near Earth's surface is "heated from below" by heat energy from Earth's interior.

Which principle best describes why melting occurs first in snow around tree trunks?

Earth's surface temperature often ____________________ on a calm night as a low cloud moves overhead.

When water changes from a solid to a vapor, without going through a liquid state, we call this process ____.

Explain how energy in the form of sunlight absorbed at the ground could be transferred upward in the atmosphere in the form of latent heat. How or when is the latent heat energy released in the air above the ground?

Most of the solar wind emitted by the Sun never reaches Earth because of Earth's tilt.

_______________ is energy in the process of being transferred from one object to another because of the ____________________ difference between them.

Temperature is a measure of the average speed of ____________________ and ____________________.

Carbon dioxide and water vapor are called selective absorbing greenhouse gases.

If the amount of energy lost by Earth to space each year were not approximately equal to that received, ____.

Good absorbers of radiation are usually poor emitters of radiation.

Use a small spoonful of boiling water and a large jug of boiling water to illustrate the difference between heat and temperature.

Normally, solar wind approaches Earth at an average speed of ____.

When water vapor condenses into clouds, ____________________ is released into the atmosphere. This provides a tremendous amount of heat in storms, such as thunderstorms and hurricanes.

Sunlight that bounces off a surface is said to be ____ from the surface.

The ability or capacity to do work on some form of matter is called ____.

Earth's radiative equilibrium temperature is the ____.

Snow will usually melt on the roof of a home that is ____.