What is the cause of the adiabatic change of temperature in the atmosphere?

Correct option is C

The correct answer is expansion and compression of air. Adiabatic temperature changes occur when a parcel of air changes temperature without exchanging heat with its surroundings. When air rises in the atmosphere, it expands due to lower pressure, and its temperature decreases adiabatically. Conversely, when air descends, it compresses due to higher pressure, and its temperature increases. This process is crucial for understanding phenomena like cloud formation and atmospheric stability.
Information Booster:
· Adiabatic cooling: Happens when air rises and expands in a lower pressure environment, leading to a temperature drop.
· Adiabatic heating: Occurs when air descends and compresses, causing a temperature rise.
· This process plays a key role in cloud formation, as cooling of rising air can lead to condensation.
· No heat exchange with the environment is involved in adiabatic changes.
· Adiabatic processes are fundamental to understanding lapse rates in meteorology.
Additional Knowledge:
· Convection and advection: Convection involves vertical movement of air, and advection involves horizontal air movement. While they contribute to temperature distribution, they are not directly linked to adiabatic processes.
· Latent heat of condensation: This is the heat released when water vapor condenses into liquid but is a diabatic process, involving heat exchange.
· Partial absorption of solar radiation: This refers to the atmosphere absorbing part of the solar radiation, influencing temperature, but it is not adiabatic.