ESS55
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
Water Vapor
(H2O)
qWater vapor is supplied to
the atmosphere by evaporation from the surface and is removed from the atmosphere by condensation
(clouds and rains).
qThe concentration
of water vapor is maximum near the surface and the tropics (~
0.25% of the atmosphere) and decreases rapidly toward higher
altitudes and latitudes (~ 0% of the atmosphere).
qWater vapor is
important to climate because it is a greenhouse gas that can
absorb thermal energy emitted by Earth, and can release “latent
heat” to fuel weather phenomena.