What is latent heat and why is it such an important factor in the ...

[burton19126]

What is latent heat and why is it such an important factor in the transfer of energy from the surface to the atmosphere?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

If the earth did not have greenhouse gases, its temperature would be ________ than it is now.
 
  Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

[Mollythedog]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: Latent heat is the energy required to change the phase of a substance (water). On a global average basis, the amount of energy transferred to the atmosphere as latent heat amounts to 24 units, which makes latent heat considerably more important as a mode of heat transfer than sensible heat (5 units).

Answer to Question 2

Answer: lower

[burton19126]

TYSM

[gcook]

Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it