According to An Inconvenient Truth, what is the role of infrared radiation in global warming?
(1 point)
Responses
All of the sun’s energy is converted to infrared radiation and then remains in the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere.
Over time, infrared radiation makes the atmosphere thinner. This warms the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases trap some infrared radiation in the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases trap some infrared radiation in the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere.
The correct response is:
(3) Greenhouse gases trap some infrared radiation in the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere.
The correct response is: Greenhouse gases trap some infrared radiation in the atmosphere. This warms the atmosphere.
To understand the role of infrared radiation in global warming according to "An Inconvenient Truth," we need to know that infrared radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by the Earth and its atmosphere. When sunlight reaches the Earth's surface, it is absorbed and re-emitted as infrared radiation.
Certain gases in the atmosphere, called greenhouse gases, have the ability to trap some of this infrared radiation. This process is known as the greenhouse effect. The trapped infrared radiation acts like a blanket, preventing it from escaping into space and instead warming the atmosphere. This is what causes global warming.
To arrive at this answer, you can eliminate the other choices through the process of elimination. The first choice that all of the sun's energy is converted to infrared radiation is incorrect because the sun's energy is not solely converted to infrared radiation. The second choice that infrared radiation makes the atmosphere thinner is also incorrect as infrared radiation does not have the ability to make the atmosphere thinner. Therefore, the correct answer is the third choice, which explains the role of infrared radiation in global warming through the greenhouse effect.