Question

geography:

Several scientific studies have linked human-induced global warming to increased probabilities of extremely heavy precipitation events and/or to increased intensity of extremely heavy precipitation events in some parts of the world. What property of the atmosphere explains this connection between global warming and increased heavy precipitation?

Name two ways that an atmospheric inversion can form.

Answer 1

70% of the surface of the earth is occupied by water. When the temperature of the earth increases due to anthropogenic activities, due to greater rates of global warming, that will result in a greater rate of evaporation from the surface of water. This excess water will then go to the atmosphere in the form of water vapour. It has been found that, amount of water vapour in the atmosphere increases by 7% for the increase of every degree centigrade of global average temperature. This excess water will then cause greater amounts of precipitation. Though the exact correlation between the areas of precipitation and the increased water vapour could not be determined till date, it is evident that the overall precipitation will increase as a result of global warming. So, the increase of relative humidity in the atmosphere due to the increased rate of global warming will be the reason for the greater precipitation.

Atmospheric inversion refers to the gradual increase in temperature with increasing altitude in the lower portion of the atmosphere. It is generally expected that, in the tropospheric layer of the atmosphere, temperature will decrease with altitude, as the pressure decreases with altitude and that causes expansion of the air mass at the higher altitudes and subsequent decrease in the temperature. In case of atmospheric inversion, the situation is totally opposite to this. There are four main reasons for this to happen.
Ground inversion:
This can happen mainly at the time of winter and with the sky being clear. In this situation, the ground surface will be capable of releasing heat at a greater rate. It also cools the layer of air remaining in contact to the surface. When this layer of the air becomes colder than the upper layer, inversion occurs.
Turbulent inversion:
This happens when a layer of turbulent air remains below a layer of calm air mass. In this case, the turbulent air mass loses heat at a greater pace due to the active mixing within the layer. Whereas, the layer above it remains warmer. This results in inversion of temperature.
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