The Earth’s surface temperature predicted by the energy balance model is too cold compare to reality because …

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks: 'The Earth’s surface temperature predicted by the energy balance model is too cold compare to reality because …'

Option presented: 'it does not include the atmospheric greenhouse effect'

Analysis of the given option:
- This statement identifies a key limitation of a simple energy balance model (EBM). In a basic EBM, heat balance is often computed using incoming solar radiation, albedo, and a simple outgoing longwave radiation term. If the model omits the atmospheric greenhouse effect, it neglects the trapping of infrared radiation by greenhouse gases, which warms the surface. Therefore, excluding this mechanism would naturally lead to an underestimation of the surface temperature, making the model output colder than observed. This reasoning aligns with established climate science: to reproduce present-day temperatures more accurately, EBMs or more complex models must incorporate greenhouse warming either explicitly (e.g., through a greenhouse effect parameterization) or implicitly via an increased effective emissivity.

- In other words, the missing greenhouse effect reduces the downward longwave flux reaching the surface, leading to a cooler predicted surface temperature. Including it would raise the simulated surface temperature closer to reality, assuming other parameters are reasonably constrained.

Possible alternate reasoning if there were more options (hypothetical):
- If an option claimed that the model ignored feedbacks (like water vapor, clouds, or ice-albedo feedback), that could also explain cold biases, since feedbacks amplify or dampen initial warming.
- If an option stated the model used a fixed albedo or neglected solar variability, those could contribute to temperature discrepancies as well.

But since the only option provided asserts the absence of atmospheric greenhouse effect as the reason for a too-cold prediction, the core idea is that the greenhouse effect is a major warming mechanism that a simplistic EBM often omits. By including this effect, the model’s surface temperature would increase, reducing or eliminating the cold bias.

Note on missing options: The prompt lists an answer field but provides no answer_options list. With no alternative choices to compare, we cannot critique other possibilities or explain why they’re incorrect. If additional options were supplied, we would evaluate each one in turn, noting reasoning errors, gaps in physics, or misinterpretations, and contrast them with the correct mechanism described above.

CLMTGR5001_002_2025_3 - Dynamics of Climate Variability and Chan PRACTICE QUIZ: Week 2 Lecture 2

The Earth’s surface temperature predicted by the energy balance model is too cold compare to reality because …

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

Increased heat from the runaway greenhouse effect evaporates oceans, producing more greenhouse heating. This happened to _ and might happen to _ someday.

When an atmosphere layer is added to the energy balance model, the surface temperature of the earth …

Atmospheric greenhouse effect means that the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb the ...

能量平衡模型预测的地球表面温度与现实相比太冷，因为……

Atmospheric greenhouse effect means that the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb the ...

When an atmosphere layer is added to the energy balance model, the surface temperature of the earth …

If there were more greenhouse gases added to the earth atmosphere, what would happen to the energy balance at the top of the atmosphere?

When including both the albedo and atmospheric greenhouse effect, and assuming the atmosphere is a blackbody, the energy balance model predicts the earth surface temperature to be…

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler

CLMTGR5001_002_2025_3 - Dynamics of Climate Variability and Chan PRACTICE QUIZ: Week 2 Lecture 2

The Earth’s surface temperature predicted by the energy balance model is too cold compare to reality because …

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

Increased heat from the runaway greenhouse effect evaporates oceans, producing more greenhouse heating. This happened to _____ and might happen to _____ someday.

When an atmosphere layer is added to the energy balance model, the surface temperature of the earth …

Atmospheric greenhouse effect means that the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb the ...

能量平衡模型预测的地球表面温度与现实相比太冷，因为……

Atmospheric greenhouse effect means that the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb the ...

When an atmosphere layer is added to the energy balance model, the surface temperature of the earth …

If there were more greenhouse gases added to the earth atmosphere, what would happen to the energy balance at the top of the atmosphere?

When including both the albedo and atmospheric greenhouse effect, and assuming the atmosphere is a blackbody, the energy balance model predicts the earth surface temperature to be…

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Making Your Study Simpler

Increased heat from the runaway greenhouse effect evaporates oceans, producing more greenhouse heating. This happened to _ and might happen to _ someday.