Question

State whether EACH of the following statements are true or false.

A. A fraction A of the Sun’s radiation gets reflected off the atmosphere. (T/F)

B. The Earth surface radiates both visible and infrared radiation. (T/F)                            [

C. Most of the visible radiation from the sun is absorbed by the atmosphere. (T/F)            

D. The atmosphere emits thermal infrared radiation. (T/F)

E. The greenhouse effect is due to the thermal energy the atmosphere radiates back to the surface. (T/F)

F. The Earth surface and the atmosphere have the same temperature. (T/F)                            [ Select ]   

Answer 1

(A) - This statement is TRUE. About 30% of solar radiation is reflected back into space. The radiation is predominantly reflected off of the atmosphere, snow and ice.

(B) - This statement is TRUE. The Earth emits long wave infrared radiation.

(C) - This statement is FALSE. Most of the UV radiation from the sun is absorbed by the atmosphere. The radiation that reaches Earth mostly comprises of visible and infrared radiation  

(D) - This statement is TRUE. The atmosphere emits some of its absorbed radiation in the form of longwave infrared radiation.

(E) - This statement is FALSE. The greenhouse effect id caused by the presence of gases like CO₂ and water vapour in the atmosphere which prevent radiation from escaping out from the Earth

(F) - This statement is FALSE. The temperature in the atmosphere is varying across its multiple layers and drastically changes as one goes towards space. The Earth on the other has a lesser variance in temperature and although some layers of the atmosphere may have the same temperature as Earth the average temperature of the atmosphere (15°C - 1500°C) is much higher than the average temperature of Earth (14.9°C).