atmosphere

4 articles · All tags

• Urban Heat Islands: Why Cities Are Hotter Than Nearby Land
  An urban heat island is a city area that runs hotter than the countryside around it, mainly because dark surfaces absorb sunlight and buildings and roads store heat.
• Why Is the Sky Blue? Rayleigh Scattering Explained
  The sky is blue because air molecules scatter short-wavelength blue light far more than red light — Rayleigh scattering — and the same effect paints sunsets red.
• Greenhouse Effect
  The warming of Earth's surface by greenhouse gases that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation, keeping the planet habitable.
• The Jet Stream
  Narrow bands of strong upper-atmosphere winds that form at temperature boundaries and steer mid-latitude weather.