Exam 18: Energy Balance in the Atmosphere

The radiation emitted by the Earth has a relatively __________ wavelength and __________ frequency.

All areas of the globe receive the same total number of hours of sunlight every year.

The region of the globe directly beneath the Sun is warmer because it receives:

Locations at the same latitude, which receive the same amount of solar radiation:

Clouds warm the Earth's surface at night.

The __________ is the entire range of radiation of different wavelengths and frequencies.

The __________ traps heat radiating from Earth and acts as an insulating blanket.

About __________ percent of the incoming solar radiation reaches Earth's surface.

When the energy in a photon is transferred to an electron in a molecule, the electron jumps to a/an __________ __________.

Why doesn't Earth get hot enough to boil oceans and melt rocks from the radiant energy it absorbs from the Sun?

Air is a good conductor of heat.

Clouds have an albedo of __________ percent.

__________ is the reflectivity of a surface.

__________ is a composite of weather patterns from season to season, averaged over many years.

If the Earth's albedo were to rise by growth of glaciers or increase in cloud cover, the surface of our planet would cool.

If Earth had no atmosphere, sunlight would travel directly to the surface, and the Sun would look white in a black sky.

Photons travel through space at only one speed.

__________ is the state of the atmosphere at a given place and time, characterized by temperature and precipitation, for example.

__________ absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere.

Continental interiors are commonly cooler in summer and warmer in winter than coastal areas.