Atmosphere MCQ Question and Answer | Geography MCQ Question

Argon is the chemically inactive gas present in the atmosphere.

As Ionosphere is one of the upper most layers, the solar and cosmic radiations heat it up rapidly, the gaseous material available here is in ionic state. Hence temperature increases rapidly.

Solar energy heats the earth’s surface. But the energy does not stay bound up in the earth’s environment forever. Instead, as the earth warms, it emits thermal radiation. This thermal radiation, which is largely in the form of long-wave infrared rays, eventually finds its way out into space, leaving the earth and allowing it to cool. However, not all of the infrared rays pass into space. Some of the infrared rays are absorbed by greenhouse gases and warm the atmosphere. So the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is directly related to the temperature of the atmosphere.

Temperature generally decreases towards the poles because progressively lesser solar energy per unit area falls on the earth's surface as we move to polar regions. Longer the path of the sun’s rays, greater is the amount of reflection and absorption of heat by the atmosphere. As a result, the intensity of insolation is less.

Troposphere varies in its thickness between equator and poles. Near the equator, the troposphere is thicker than at the poles, since the spinning of the Earth tends to shift air towards the equator. The thickness of the troposphere also varies with season. Stratosphere does not experience Normal Lapse Rate. There it generally gets colder as you go higher due to the expansion of gases as the pressure decreases. Technically, the stratosphere has a negative 'lapse rate' (temperature increases with height), while the lower atmosphere's lapse rate is positive.

Excess carbon in the atmosphere warms the planet. when carbon dioxide concentrations rise, air temperatures go up, and more water vapor evaporates into the atmosphere which then amplifies greenhouse heating.

Atmospheric pressure exerted on earth is due to gravitational pull of the earth. The air around you has weight, and it presses against everything it touches. That pressure is called atmospheric pressure, or air pressure.

Only tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean or eastern Pacific Ocean are called "hurricanes." Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel. That is why they form only over warm ocean waters near the equator. The warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface.

Orographic precipitation or Rain produced when moist air is lifted as it moves over a mountain range. As the air rises and cools, orographic clouds form and serve as the source of the precipitation, most of which falls upwind of the mountain ridge. Some also falls a short distance downwind of the ridge and is sometimes called spillover. On the lee side of the mountain range, rainfall is usually low, and the area is said to be in a Rain Shadow.

Ionosphere is the top layer of the atmosphere. Radio waves are deflected in the ionosphere of the atmosphere.