What factors influence the earths average temperature?

Answer 1

1) latitude - affects the degree st which the suns rays strike the earth

2) altitude - the higher the colder: environmental lapse rate: every 150m a 1 degree (celcius) drop occurs

3) distance from large bodies of water land temperatures are modified due to the ocean (cooler in summer and warmer in winter) also the air masses that blow over the bodies of water absorb moisture from it and blow it over land

4) ocean currents affect the temperature of the air masses that blow over it. the temperature of the current depends on where the current originates. (i.e if it forms in the tropics the current will be warm etc.)

5)Mountain barriers (when moist warm wind blows up the windward side of a mountain it is forced to cool, and cool air cannot hold in the moisture. this causes precipitation which leads to a rain shadow on the leeward side of the mountain.

6) air masses volumes of air blowing due to unequal heating from the sun. where an air mass is formed affects the temperature of the air mass, and wherever the air mass blows is affected by the temperature of the air mass

7) prevailing wind systems - wind absorbs the heat and moisture from oceans and blows onto land.

Answer 2

Temperatures can vary according to latitude, altitude and other local factors, even urbanisation.

Global average temperatures also vary over time because of such factors as variations in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, sunspot activity (although only minimally), and the Milankovich cycle - subtle shifts in our planet's orbit around the Sun.

The only global factor that is within human control is the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, with human activity having raised the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide from the normal range of 260-280 parts per million (ppm) to 380 ppm since the beginning of the twentieth century.

A:

• Incoming sunlight (credit)
• Outgoing thermal radiation (debit)

As with any budget, if credits match debits then things balance; in this case temperature stays constant. If credits exceed debits, temperature rises. If debits exceed credits, temperature falls.

There are many variables that can shift this budget: sunspot cycle, earth's orbital variation, cloud cover, ice cap and glacier sizes, greenhouse gases, etc., but it's still the same budget.

Answer 3

The amount of energy received or generated by earth that is absorbed/retained by the earth. Clouds and the earth's surface reflect away a certain amount (estimated at around 30%) of the energy received by the earth from the sun. Some parts of the earth's surface absorb versus reflect heat and light more than others, and the same is true of the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, cause the earth to retain more heat in its atmosphere, which causes a warming trend.

Greenhouse gases are constantly naturally emitted by various sources, such as carbon dioxide emitted by members of the animal kingdom that breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. This is balanced by members of the plant kingdom, which 'inhale' carbon dioxide and (combined with sunlight in the process called photosynthesis) exhale free oxygen. Ice core samples have shown that oxygen levels in the earth's atmosphere have been gradually rising (some short term periods going the other direction notwithstanding); this shows that the balance between carbon dioxide production by natural sources versus consumption by natural processes has been slightly favoring consumption. However, mankind has created a double whammy on the process by both dumping a great deal of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere on a vast scale (dwarfing natural processes) through technology such as the internal combustion engine, and also destroying -- again on a vast scale -- the natural systems of reducing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Forests, especially big, thick forests, are the strongest carbon dioxide-to-free oxygen converters in nature, and most of the world's forests have been clearcut over the past few centuries.

Greenhouse gases are also trapped in glaciers and permafrost, which man-caused global warming may start significantly triggering the release of as the glaciers and permafrost melts; this will add to mankind's artificial greenhouse gas emissions and mean that past a certain point, our damage to the greenhouse equilibrium may be irreversible (it would then be too late to cease emitting greenhouse gases even if we could suddenly stop all our greenhouse gas emissions, as we would at that point have triggered processes beyond our control).

Answer 4

There are primarily two factors that influence the temperature of the Earth, which are, the heating caused by sunlight during the day, and the cooling caused by the emission of infrared radiation into space at night. Greenhouse gases which intercept the infrared radiation are another significant factor.

Answer 5

Our atmosphere which shields us from the intensity of radiation from the sun.

Answer 6

Distance from equator, sun shine, humidity, composition of air and wind velocity etc.

Answer 7

Sunlight and clouds