Solar Radiation and Climate - Class VII

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. There are 7 regions in the electromagnetic spectrum and they are gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwaves and radio waves. All types of electromagnetic radiation are transverse waves and they all travel at the same speed in a vacuum.  The regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are explained below in order of increasing wavelength and decreasing frequency.

Our sun is the main source of energy and heat. It provides solar energy or fuel for the process of weather and climate. The energy emitted by the sun is known as solar radiation. The incoming solar radiation to the earth is known as insolation.

Charged particles,

Approximately 51% of incoming solar radiation reaches the Earth's surface, while the rest is reflected by clouds, scattered by the atmosphere, or absorbed by atmospheric gases.

Our sun is the main source of energy and heat. It provides solar energy or fuel for the process of weather and climate. The energy emitted by the sun is known as solar radiation. The incoming radiation to the earth is known as isolation and it reaches in the earth in form of short waves.

The
moderating influence decreases and the people experience extreme weather conditions
because of increasing distance from the sea. Places which are located on
coastal region experience moderate climate as they are affected by land and sea
breezes. They are neither too hot nor too cold, e.g. Mumbai, Chennai. Places
which are located away from the sea have an extreme climate. They are too hot
in summer and too cold in winter, e.g. Delhi, Bhopal.

The
generalization of the atmospheric condition over a long period of time is
referred to as climate. It is the long-term pattern of weather in a particular
area. Following are the factors which influence the climate of any place:

With increasing altitude the the temperature decreases and atmosphere becomes less dence. The direct source of atmospheric heat lies at the surface of the earth,the higher we ascend in the atmosphere,the lower the temperature are.The lower layers of the air at or near the surface are dence cause it contains more water vapour,more water particles and more dust particles than the upper air.Since these substances absorb a large amount of terrestrial radiation,the lower part of the atmosphere has higher temperature and dence than upper part of the atmosphere.

• Delhi is located in the interior of the continent far away from sea thus it experiences extremes of temperature viz high heat in summer and: very cold in winter. Range of temperature 2 degrees to 45 degrees Celsius approximately.
• Kolkata is nearer to the sea thus experiences moderate changes in temperature from summer to winter thus Delhi is comparative extreme with respect to the range of temperature.

• Normally when we move up the altitude the temperature decreases with a certain rate called the normal lapse rate.
•  However, sometimes there is inversion or change in this property and the temperature after a certain height starts to increase rather than decreasing. This is called inversion of temperature, thus option C is correct. 

Because the Earth is spherical, solar rays strike the poles at a much lower angle (slanting) compared to the equator, spreading the same amount of energy over a larger area and resulting in less heating.

Earth,

Electrons

Radiation is the direct heating by the transmission of the heat waves. The upper layer of the atmosphere absorbs some amount of heat of the sun as they pass through the atmosphere. Radiation from the earth is called terrestrial radiation. Terrestrial radiation is long wave radiated by the earth. 

A part of the solar radiation falling on any surface is reflected back. Thus a certain amount of energy is lost and it does not play any role in heating the atmosphere. The reflectivity of a substance usually expressed as a percentage of the incident radiation reflected is known as it's albedo or reflection coefficient. It differs from place to place as well as from time to time.

The
conditions of the atmosphere as well as the seasons affect the actual amount of
insolation received at a place on the earth. Following are the factors which
are responsible for variation in insolation:-

• The energy from the sun to earth comes in the form of solar radiation while the earth radiates it back to the atmosphere in the form of terrestrial radiations, hence option B is correct.
• Radioactivity is the energy released with the breakdown of matter in the form of gamma rays.
• Insolation is the reduction of energy transfer between objects.

• Incoming solar radiation from the sun is called insolation.
• Terrestrial radiation is the energy radiated back by the earth to the atmosphere.
• Sleet is partly frozen rain
• Drizzle is light rain falling with very small droplets.

As the temperature of the air increases its capacity to hold moisture increases while with the decrease in the temperature of the air, its capacity to hold moisture decreases. Thus the capacity of the atmospheric air to contain water vapor is directly proportional to its temperature. Hence option B is correct.

In October, the sun's rays move toward the Southern Hemisphere, meaning they fall more vertically on the Southern Hemisphere and more obliquely on the Northern Hemisphere, causing temperatures to drop in the North.

South India is a peninsula surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea. The proximity to large bodies of water moderates the temperature, preventing it from becoming as extremely hot as inland regions.

Ganganagar, located in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, is known for extreme temperatures and has historically recorded temperatures reaching as high as 52 degrees Celsius.

Aziziyah, Libya, held the record for the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth for many years, although this record has been debated and surpassed by other locations like Death Valley in modern measurements.

The earth receives solar energy in form of short-wave solar recitation.On the other hand solar radiation is radiated back to the atmosphere in the form of long-wave terrestrial rediation.

Earth receives solar radiation in the form of short-wave solar radiation, where it converted into heat by the process of absorption. This energy goes back in the form of long-wave terrestrial ration. The earth sends the same amount of energy back to the spacer, except for a small amount of energy stored as fossil fuels.

About one third i.e 35% of the solar energy is reflected back (like a mirror reflecting light) by the Earth’s atmosphere. Further, some portion of the light is scattered and absorbed in the higher reaches of the atmosphere. In fact, some of the harmful rays of Sun like the UV rays don’t reach the ground and this has made life possible on the Earth. 

The amount of solar radiation received by the surface of the earth is called insolation. The word insolation means incoming solar radiation. It consists of a bundle of rays of radient energy of different wavelengths. The sun emits radient energy in the form of electromagnetic waves.

The solar radiation can be divided into three parts, namely, white light, ultraviolet rays and infrared rays.

The bright lights are a natural phenomenon found in both the northern and southern hemispheres of Polar region that can be truly awe-inspiring. Northern lights are called Aurora Borealis and southern lights are called Aurora Australis.

The earth can be divided into four temperature zones. They are, 

Our sun is the main source of energy and heat. It provides solar energy or fuel for the process of weather and climate. The energy emitted by the sun is known as solar radiation. The incoming radiation to the earth is known as isolation and it reaches in the earth in form of short waves.

Sensitivity of a thermometer refers to the amount of change in thermometric property for a unit change in temperature. It refers to the smallest temperature change that can be detected or measured. The range of a thermometer on the other hand refers to the difference between the maximum and the minimum temperature.

In greenhouse farming, the roof is made of either glasses or cloth to allow the sun rays to penetrate and sustain the heart of the building. In this method of farming the dependency on climate reduces. Mainly flower, vegetable, fruits are grown in greenhouse farming.  Some crops also are grown in this method.  With increasing technology greenhouse farming also increasing day by day. 

Carbon dioxide can hold the heat in the atmosphere for a long time. It constitutes only 0.03 percent of the dry air. Being an effective absorber of heat from the upper atmosphere as well as the earth, carbon dioxide is considered to be of great climatic significance. This gas emits about half of the absorbed heat back to the earth.

The places having similar temperature conditions are joined by means of imaginary lines known as isotherms. For convenience, the temperature is reduced to sea level as if the places actually existed at sea level. The isotherms have east-west trends and generally follow the latitude. 

The
highest recorded temperature is about 58 $^oC$ at Al-Aziziyah which lies in
Libya. It is located around 25 miles south of Tripoli. World Meteorological Organization
had recorded this temperature on 13 September 1922. After exactly 90 years, on
13 September 2012, this record was disqualified. Now, the highest recorded
temperature is in Death Valley, California.

The Köppen climate classification defines a climate as "temperate" when the mean temperature is above −3 °C (26.6 °F) but below 18 °C (64.4 °F) in the coldest month.

Yes,

A greenhouse is a body which allows the shortwave incoming solar radiation to come in but does not allow the longwave outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation to escape. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon which helps in keeping the earth's surface warm up. Carbon dioxide, water vapour etc are the important gases of the greenhouse.

• The ozone layer blocks the harmful ultra-violet rays coming from the sun and prevents it from reaching the earth's surface thus play an extremely important role. However it cannot block x-rays, infrared rays or cosmic rays. Hence option D is correct.
• The ozone layer is found in the lower stratosphere 

The greenhouse effect is the process where atmospheric gases, primarily carbon dioxide, trap heat radiated from the Earth's surface, preventing it from escaping into space.

Human beings are responsible for the vast majority of environmental pollution through industrialization, transportation, waste generation, and resource consumption.