Exam 2: Warming the Earth and the Atmosphere

The earth emits infrared radiation ____.

In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the day with the shortest number of daylight hours occurs on ____.

The transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance is called ____.

Radiation is made of discrete packets of energy called ____.

What is responsible for the cold feeling that you experience after leaving a swimming pool on a hot, dry summer day?

The wavelength of radiation is ____ proportional to the energy carried per wave.

Between Christmas and January, at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the length of the day ____.

What provides a measure of the average speed or kinetic energy of the atoms and molecules in air?

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

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Which is a better reflector of solar energy, WATER or ICE?

Explain why sunrises and sunsets typically have colors of red, orange, and yellow.

The wavelengths of radiation that an object emits depend primarily on the object's ____.

Without the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the average surface temperature of the earth would be ___.

The heat energy released when water vapor changes to a liquid is called ____.

Which region of the sun's electromagnetic spectrum is most responsible for human skin cancer?

The earth's surface receives about twice as much energy from the atmosphere than from the sun as a result of ____.

If the amount of snow and ice in the polar regions of the earth were to decline due to global warming, how would you expect this to affect the radiation budget of the earth?

The formation of ice releases heat and warms the surroundings.

Seasons on earth are regulated by ___.

Airline routes are sometimes changed as a result of solar storms.