SIO 217C: Climate
Spring 2014
Earth’s Energy Balance Discussion Questions
1. Why is ACC Fig. 2.2 not symmetric between hemispheres, even when the out-of-phase
relationship is taken into account?
2. Assume the Earth emits the same amount of thermal radiation as a 255 K blackbody, thus
having an effective emission temperature of 255 K. If the Earth warms up due to an increase
in CO2 and then returns to radiative equilibrium at a warmer surface temperature, what is the
new effective emission temperature? Why? Assume that thermal emission originally comes
from an average height of 5 km in the atmosphere. Is the average height of emission for a
warmer Earth lower, higher, or the same? Why?
3. Using information from GPC Table 2.3, calculate the equilibrium emission temperature of
Venus. How does it compare to the equilibrium emission temperature of Earth?
Difficult Question
4. Using information from GPC Table 2.3, calculate the equilibrium emission temperature of
Jupiter. The measured emission temperature of Jupiter is 134 K. What can account for the
difference?