For a clear night and with windspeeds < 3 m/s, the atmosphere is
Clear Night Wind < 3 m/s: Understanding Atmospheric Stability
Atmospheric stability refers to the atmosphere's tendency to resist or promote vertical air movement. Specific conditions influence this stability.
Key Conditions
- Clear Night: Allows unimpeded outgoing longwave radiation from the Earth's surface.
- Windspeeds < 3 m/s: Indicates very light or calm conditions, limiting vertical mixing.
Atmospheric Response
During a clear night, the ground surface loses heat rapidly through radiation. This causes the lowest layer of air to cool significantly.
With minimal wind, this cold, dense air near the surface is not mixed with the warmer air above. This leads to a situation where temperature increases with height, known as a temperature inversion.
Stability Assessment
A temperature inversion suppresses vertical motion because parcels of air rising from near the surface are colder (and denser) than their surroundings, forcing them back down. Conversely, sinking air warms faster than it should if it were to reach a lower, colder level.
Therefore, under these specific conditions (clear night, low windspeed), the atmosphere is significantly stable.
Important Questions from Basics of Environment
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 seeks to implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Which of the following statements is correct about CITES?
1. CITES is an agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in the specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
2. Under CITES, plant and animal specimens are classified into five categories based on the threat to their extinction.
3. The Convention requires countries to regulate the trade of all listed specimens through permits.
4. It also seeks to regulate the possession of live animal specimens.
Match the following statements related to ecology; List 1 (System description) with those in List 2 (Name of system) and select the best answer using the codes.
List 1
List 2
1.
Physical, chemical and biological factors that the species needs in order to live, and reproduce exist
A.
Climax ecosystem
2.
Presence of rich and unique biological diversity found in an ecotone.
B.
Ecological niche
3.
Stage in the evolution of an ecosystem at which all the species are in dynamic equilibrium among themselves and with the environment
C.
Biome
4.
Formation of plants and animals that have common characteristics due to similar climate and can be found over a range of continents.
D.
Edge effect
- Which of the following is a kind of wave generated during an earthquake?
- Protecting nature and the wilderness for its own sake is referred as
- A local population genetically, structurally and functionally adapted to its local environment is called
