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…

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The question asks us to evaluate the Earth surface temperature predicted by an energy balance model that includes both the planetary albedo and the atmospheric greenhouse effect, assuming the atmosphere behaves as a blackbody.
Option 1: 'too cold compared to observations' would imply the model underestimates warming, but when you include a greenhouse layer that traps infrared radiation, you generally raise the surface temperature above the no-greenhouse case, making cold predictions unlikely.
Option 2: 'too warm compared to observations' aligns with the classic result of a simple one-layer (blackbody) greenhouse model: incorporating a greenhouse effect increases the surface temperature above the effective radiating temperature, often yielding a value several tens of kelvin higher than observed. This reflects that the basic two-parameter model tends to overestimate warming when the atmosphere is treated as an ideal blackbody and feedbacks are simplified.
Option 3: 'about the same as observations' would require a very precise balance of albedo, solar input, and greenhouse forcing in a simplified model. In standard teaching examples, the one-layer blackbody atmosphere tends to overshoot the real Earth temperature, so this option is not typically correct.
In summary, when both albedo and a blackbody greenhouse layer are included, the simplified energy balance framework generally predicts a surface temperature that is higher than what is actually observed, making option 2 the most consistent choice among the given statements.

CLMTGR5001_002_2025_3 - Dynamics of Climate Variability and Chan Quiz 2c Week 2 Lecture 3

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…

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CLMTGR5001_002_2025_3 - Dynamics of Climate Variability and Chan Quiz 2c Week 2 Lecture 3

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…

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 ...

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

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?

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.