Asked by n

How do the gases in Earth's atmosphere affect Earth's average temperature?

They make Earth cooler by allowing most of the heat from the Sun to escape back into space.


They make Earth warmer by trapping heat energy in the bonds between their atoms.


They make Earth warmer by allowing all of the Sun's rays to travel to Earth's surface.


They make Earth cooler by decreasing the amount of precipitation formed in the atmosphere.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Correct answer: They make Earth warmer by trapping heat energy (choice 2).

Explanation: Greenhouse gases (CO2, H2O vapor, CH4, etc.) are mostly transparent to incoming shortwave solar radiation but absorb and re‑emit outgoing longwave (infrared) radiation from Earth’s surface. That trapping of infrared radiation raises the planet’s average temperature (the greenhouse effect). The other choices are incorrect for the reasons below:
- Choice 1: Opposite of what greenhouse gases do.
- Choice 3: Gases do not “allow all” solar rays to reach the surface, and the warming is due to trapping outgoing infrared rather than simply letting sunlight through.
- Choice 4: Precipitation changes are not the primary mechanism by which atmospheric gases set Earth’s average temperature.