The Greenhouse Effect-Read About it

1.) a.) List three forms of radiation from the sun.

-infrared radiation

-visible light

-ultraviolet radiation

Which form of radiation from the sun has the longest wavelength? The shortest wavelength?

b.) Infrared radiation has the longest wavelength among other forms of radiation from the sun. Ultraviolet radiation has the shortest.

2.)a.) What happens to most of the sunlight that reaches Earth?

Most of the sunlight that reaches the Earth is absorbed by Earth's surface. This is about 50%.

What percentage of incoming sunlight is reflected by clouds, dust, and gases in the atmosphere?

b.)25% of incoming sunlight is reflected by clouds, dust, and gases in the atmosphere.

Why are sunsets red?

c.) Sunsets are red because its light passes through a greater thickness of the atmosphere than when the sun is higher in the sky. More light from the blue end of the spectrum is removed by scattering before it reaches the human eye. The remaining light contains mostly red and orange light. Therefore, sunsets are red.

3.)a.) What happens to the energy from the sun that is absorbed by Earth's surface?

Energy from the sun that is absorbed by Earth's surface either reflects back into the atmospere or absorbed by the land and water and changed into heat.

How might conditions on Earth be different without the greenhouse effect?

b.) Conditions on Earth might be different without the greenhouse effect because temperatures would be too cold that living oganisms wouldn't be able to survive.