What is temperature inversion and its effects on Earth?

Answer 1

Thermal inversion occurs when a layer of warm air overlies cooler air in the trophosphere (lower atmosphere), thus inverting the usual condition in which air becomes cooler as altitude increases.

Warm air is less dense than cool air. Density is the mass of anything divided by the volume it occupies. As the temperature of a given mass of air increases, its volume expands and the air gets less dense as a result - same mass, but larger volume, means less dense.Warm air can hold more water than cool air.

Air near the land surface is heated by radiation and conduction, expands and begins to rise, being lighter than the surrounding air. This is convection. To replace the rising air, cooler air is drawn in from the surface of the sea. This is advection, called a sea breeze, and can offer a pleasant cooling influence on hot summer afternoons when further inland the heat may become oppressive.

Soo.. if thermal inversion diid not occur . Then warm air which may be air heated by solar radiation did not expand and become less dense thanm cool air and rise. and this warm air that that did not rise was not able to hold much as much moistire as cool air. This would mean if all these characteristics were reversed for a single moment, the thermal inversion reversed would cause the warm air to descend. I think that is correct.. Scientific american, and other internet sources.

Answer 2

A thermal inversion is when the normal decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude is reversed and air above the ground is warmer than the air below it. Thermal inversions occur when the warm, less dense air mass moves over a dense, cold air mass. Effects of thermal inversion are extreme weather conditions including freezing rain, intense thunderstorms, and tornadoes.

Answer 3

Causes of Temperature InversionsNormally, air temperature decreases at a rate of 3.5°F for every 1000 feet (or roughly 6.4°C for every kilometer) you climb into the atmosphere. When this normal cycle is present, it is considered an unstable air mass and air constantly flows between the warm and cool areas. As such the air is better able to mix and spread around pollutants.

During an inversion episode, temperatures increase with increasing altitude. The warm inversion layer then acts as a cap and stops atmospheric mixing. This is why inversion layers are called stable air masses.

Temperature inversions are a result of other weather conditions in an area. They occur most often when a warm, less dense air mass moves over a dense, cold air mass. This can happen for example, when the air near the ground rapidly loses its heat on a clear night. In this situation, the ground becomes cooled quickly while the air above it retains the heat the ground was holding during the day. Additionally, temperature inversions occur in some coastal areas because upwelling of cold water can decrease surface air temperature and the cold air mass stays under warmer ones.

Topography can also play a role in creating a temperature inversion since it can sometimes cause cold air to flow from mountain peaks down into valleys. This cold air then pushes under the warmer air rising from the valley, creating the inversion. In addition, inversions can also form in areas with significant snow cover because the snow at ground level is cold and its white color reflects almost all heat coming in. Thus, the air above the snow is often warmer because it holds the reflected energy.

Consequences of Temperature InversionsSome of the most significant consequences of temperature inversions are the extreme weather conditions they can sometimes create. One example of these is freezing rain. This phenomenon develops with a temperature inversion in a cold area because snow melts as it moves through the warm inversion layer. The precipitation then continues to fall and passes through the cold layer of air near the ground. When it moves through this final cold air mass it becomes "super-cooled" (cooled below freezing without becoming solid). The super-cooled drops then become ice when they land on items like cars and trees and the result is freezing rain or an ice storm.

Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes are also associated with inversions because of the intense energy that is released after an inversion blocks an area's normal convection patterns.

SmogAlthough freezing rain, thunderstorms, and tornadoes are significant weather events, one of the most important things impacted by an inversion layer is smog. This is the brownish gray haze that covers many of the world's largest cities and is a result of dust, auto exhaust, and industrial manufacturing.

Smog is impacted by the inversion layer because it is in essence, capped, when the warm air mass moves over an area. This happens because the warmer air layer sits over a city and prevents the normal mixing of cooler, denser air. The air instead becomes still and over time the lack of mixing causes pollutants to become trapped under the inversion, developing significant amounts of smog.

Answer 4

A thermal inversion is where the normal decrease in air temperature with increased altitude is reversed. This results in warmer air in areas above the ground than the air underneath it.

Answer 5

it blocks cool air close to the surface and anything else such as smog until a gust of wind blows it away