Atmospheric Temperature - The Vertical Temperature Profile, The Sun's Role In Atmospheric Temperature, The Greenhouse Effect
atmosphere changes height season
The temperature of the atmosphere varies with the distance from the equator (latitude) and height above the surface (altitude). It also changes in time, varying from season to season, from day to night and irregularly due to passing weather systems. If these variations are averaged out on a global basis, a pattern of average temperatures emerges for the atmosphere. The vertical temperature profile (the way temperature changes with height) divides the atmosphere into four layers: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the thermosphere.
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Averaging atmospheric temperatures over all latitudes and across an entire year gives us the average vertical temperature profile. This plot is sometimes called a standard atmosphere. The average vertical temperature profile suggests four distinct layers (Figure 1). In the first layer, called the troposphere, average atmospheric temperature drops steadily from its value at the surface, about 290K …
The reason that temperature is distributed as shown in the figures is mostly due to the sun and the way solar energy is deposited in the atmosphere. Most of the solar radiation is emitted as visible light, with smaller portions at shorter wavelengths (ultraviolet radiation)
Figure 1. The temperature of Earth's atmosphere is broadly determined by the deposition of solar energy and by …
While greenhouse gases are essential to supporting life on the planet, more is not necessarily better. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the mid- nineteenth century, humans have released increasing amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels. The level of carbon dioxide measured in the remote atmosphere has shown a continuous increase since rec…
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