Earth's atmosphere — insolation at equator vs poles, infrared rays composition, infrared absorption, spectrum
Question
With reference to the Earth's atmosphere, which one of the following statements is correct?
Options
The total amount of insolation received at the equator is roughly about 10 times of that received at the poles.
Infrared rays constitute roughly two-thirds of insolation.
Infrared waves are largely absorbed by water vapour that is concentrated in the lower atmosphere.
Infrared waves are a part of visible spectrum of electromagnetic waves of solar radiation.
Explanation
Statement (c) is correct. Water vapour is a highly potent greenhouse gas heavily concentrated in the lower troposphere, where it efficiently absorbs outgoing infrared (long-wave) radiation. (a) is wrong; the difference is not nearly 10 times. (b) is wrong; infrared constitutes about 49%, not two-thirds. (d) is wrong; infrared is fundamentally invisible, existing below the visible spectrum.
Answer: (c).
Question details
Year
2023
Paper
GS Paper 1
Question
Q62
Subject
Geography
Sub-topic
Climatology & Atmosphere
Type
Factual single
Difficulty
Medium
Nature
Static
Source hint
NCERT Geography Cl.11 Ch.9
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