Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Conclusion

How do surface temperatures change from hour to hour and why? How does that affect climate change?

Depending on if it contains water, the color of the surface, what light it absorbs, and its albedo, a surface's temperature increases as the sun travels across the sky, producing solar radiation, and then decreases from dusk till dawn. Since concrete absorbs more energy than grass and cities contain much more asphalt than rural areas, more energy is released at night in cities in the form of long wave infrared radiation and heat. This creates a heat island effect where the greenhouse gasses prevents long wave infrared radiation from escaping the atmosphere and causes the area to become hotter than the surrounding rural areas. This greenhouse effect can cause the climate to slowly change to a warmer climate in that area. The energy that is absorbed and re-emitted is part of Earth's energy budget, or the amount of energy gained and given off by Earth.

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