Lesson 2: Energy: Warming the Earth and the Atmosphere

I. Pre-discussion
Energy is everywhere. It is the basis for life. It comes in various forms: It can
warm a house, melt ice, and drive the atmosphere, producing our everyday weather
events. When the sun’s energy interacts with our upper atmosphere we see energy
at work in yet another form, a shimmering display of light from the sky — the aurora.
What, precisely, is this common, yet mysterious, quantity we call “energy”? What is
its primary source? How does it warm our earth and provide the driving force for our
atmosphere? And in what form does it reach our atmosphere to produce a dazzling
display like the aurora?
To answer these questions, we must first begin with the concept of energy
itself. Then we will examine energy in its various forms and how energy is transferred
from one form to another in our atmosphere. Finally, we will look more closely at the
sun’s energy and its influence on our atmosphere.

II. What to Expect

a. Distinguish how energy, heat and temperature affect the weather and climate
b. Explain heat transfer in the atmosphere.
c. Explain how solar energy contributes to the atmosphere

III. Lesson Outline

A. Stimulating Prior Knowledge
Picture Analysis: What does the picture shows? Recall how this atmospheric
phenomenon occurs? Write your answer in a paper.

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B. Lesson Proper
Energy, Temperature and Heat
By definition, energy is the ability or capacity to do work on some form of
matter. (Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space.) Work is done on
matter when matter is either pushed, pulled, or lifted over some distance.
The total amount of energy stored in any object (internal energy) determines
how much work that object is capable of doing. This is called gravitational potential
energy or simply potential energy because it represents the potential to do work.

PE = mgh

Any moving substance possesses energy of motion, or kinetic energy. The

kinetic energy (KE) of an object is equal to half its mass multiplied by its velocity
squared; thus
KE 1⁄2 mv 2

The atoms and molecules that comprise all matter have kinetic energy due to
their motion. This form of kinetic energy is often referred to as heat energy.
Probably the most important form of energy in terms of weather and climate is
the energy we receive from the sun — radiant energy.

Law of conservation of energy/ first law of thermodynamics

1. Energy cannot be created nor can it be destroyed.
2. It merely changes from one form to another in any ordinary physical or chemical
process. In other words, the energy lost during one process must equal the energy
gained during another.

Temperature is a measure of the average speed of the atoms and molecules, where
higher temperatures correspond to faster average speeds.

Heat is energy in the process of being transferred from one object to another
because of the temperature difference between them.

Specific Heat
The heat capacity of a substance is the ratio of the amount of heat energy
absorbed by that substance to its corresponding temperature rise.

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 The heat capacity of a substance per unit mass is called specific heat. In
other words, specific heat is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of
one gram (g) of a substance one degree Celsius.

Latent Heat - The Hidden Warmth

The heat energy required to change a substance, such as water, from one
state to another is called latent heat.

Heat Transfer in the Atmosphere

The transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance is called
conduction.

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 The transfer of heat by the mass movement of a fluid (such as water and air)
is called convection.

Radiant energy, or Radiation

It travels in the form of waves that release energy when they are absorbed by
an object. Because these waves have magnetic and electrical properties, we call
them electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic waves do not need molecules to propagate them. In a
vacuum, they travel at a constant speed of nearly 300,000 km (186,000 mi) per
second — the speed of light.
All things (whose temperature is above absolute zero), no matter how big or
small, emit radiation.
As the temperature of an object increases, more total radiation is emitted
each second. This can be expressed mathematically as
The earth’s radiation (terrestrial radiation) is often called longwave radiation,
whereas the sun’s energy (solar radiation) is referred to as shortwave radiation

Balancing Act — Absorption, Emission, and Equilibrium

Any object that is a perfect absorber (that is, absorbs all the radiation that
strikes it) and a perfect emitter (emits the maximum radiation possible at its given
temperature) is called a blackbody.
Blackbodies do not have to be colored black; they simply must absorb and
emit all possible radiation.
Assuming that there is no other method of transferring heat, then, when the
rate of absorption of solar radiation equals the rate of emission of infrared earth
radiation, a state of radiative equilibrium is achieved. The average temperature at
which this occurs is called the radiative equilibrium temperature.
At this temperature, the earth (behaving as a blackbody) is absorbing solar
radiation and emitting infrared radiation at equal rates, and its average temperature
does not change.
The earth’s atmosphere absorbs and emits infrared radiation. Unlike the earth,
the atmosphere does not behave like a blackbody, as it absorbs some wavelengths
of radiation and is transparent to others.
Objects that selectively absorb and emit radiation, such as gases in our
atmosphere, are known as selective absorbers.

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Selective Absorbers and The Atmospheric Greenhouse Effect
Objects that selectively absorb radiation also selectively emit radiation at the
same wavelength. This phenomenon is called Kirchhoff’s law. This law states that
good absorbers are good emitters at a particular wavelength, and poor absorbers are
poor emitters at the same wavelength. *
the atmospheric greenhouse effect occurs because water vapor, CO2, and
other greenhouse gases are selective absorbers.
They allow most of the sun’s visible radiation to reach the surface, but they
absorb a good portion of the earth’s outgoing infrared radiation, preventing it from
escaping into space greenhouse effect, then, that keeps the temperature of our
planet at a level where life can survive.
The greenhouse effect is not just a “good thing”; it is essential to life on earth.

Incoming Solar Energy

At the top of the atmosphere, solar energy received on a surface
perpendicular to the sun’s rays appears to remain fairly constant at nearly two
calories on each square centimeter each minute or 1367 W/m 2 — a value called the
solar constant. *
Sunlight can be reflected from objects. Generally, reflection differs from
scattering in that during the process of reflection more light is sent backwards.
Albedo is the percent of radiation returning from a given surface compared to
the amount of radiation initially striking that surface.

The Earth’s Annual Energy Balance

Although the average temperature at any one place may vary considerably
from year to year, the earth’s overall average equilibrium temperature changes only
slightly from one year to the next.
This fact indicates that, each year, the earth and its atmosphere combined
must send off into space just as much energy as they receive from the sun.

Solar Particles and the Aurora

In the Northern Hemisphere, we call this light show the aurora borealis, or
northern lights; its counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere is the aurora australis, or
southern lights.

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 Energy for the aurora comes from the solar wind, which disturbs the earth’s
magnetosphere. This disturbance causes energetic particles to enter the upper
atmosphere, where they collide with atoms and molecules.
The atmospheric gases become excited and emit energy in the form of visible
light. But there is other light coming from the atmosphere — a faint glow at night
much weaker than the aurora.
This feeble luminescence, called airglow, is detected at all latitudes and
shows no correlation with solar wind activity.
Apparently, this light comes from ionized oxygen and nitrogen and other gases that
have been excited by solar radiation.

C. Lesson Activity: Flow of Energy

Search/create a flowchart of how energy flows and affect the atmosphere’s
weather and climate. Write it in a separate paper if necessary. Write an explanation
of your work.

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