1. Explain how the "greenhouse effect" works for a friend who has not taken an atmospheric sciences course. What is misleading about the use of the term "greenhouse effect"?
2. Describe the mean vertical temperature structure of earth's atmosphere and explain how the highs and lows of temperature are related to the absorption and emission of radiation.
3. Over an annual cycle, there is a net surplus in Earth's radiative budget near the equator and net deficits near the poles. How does the climate system balance the surplus and deficits?
4. Why does daily average incoming solar radiation have two maxima over the course of a year on the equator?
5. Why would there be no significant rise in sea level if sea ice were to melt?
6. As we continue to burn fossil fuels over the next century or two, do you think that loss of oxygen from the atmosphere is a major concern? Why or why not?
7. Explain why a cloudy day is cooler than a clear day, but a cloudy night is warmer than a clear night.
What is the latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn? When is the sun directly overhead there?
8. Identify: Stefan-Boltzmann law atmospheric window sunspot cycle
9. Give approximate numerical values: Average radiation (W m-2) emitted by Earth to space Wavelength of maximum emission, λmax, for Sun and Earth Average planetary albedo of Earth
10. What is the sign of the water-vapor feedback in climate? Explain how it works. Why is summer hotter than winter?
You bring a pot of water to boil on the stove, then boil all the water away. Which takes longer, bringing the water to a boil, or boiling the water away? Why?
11. Sketch and explain the differences between the blackbody spectra for an airless planet whose temperature is 300K, the sun whose temperature is 6000K, and a nuclear explosion fireball, whose temperature is 1,000,000K.