Question

<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--> What is temperature inversion? What are the different types of temperature inversion? What can be the economic implications of temperature inversion?

Answer 1

Answer:

Introduction:
A temperature inversion is a phenomenon in which temperature increases with height i.e. cold air lies below warm air.unlike the normal circumstances, in which temperature decreases with increase in altitude. This phenomenon is usually restricted to the troposphere. It is usually of short duration but is very common.

Body:

Necessary conditions for temperature Inversion:
Clear sky: more rapid loss of heat through terrestrial radiation aid in a temperature inversion.
Long winter nights: loss of heat from ground exceeds incoming solar radiation.
Dry air near the ground: It limits the absorption of terrestrial heat.
The slow movement of air: the slow movement of air prevents intermixing of heat in lower layers of the atmosphere.

There are various types of temperature inversion based on a relative height from the ground surface:
Non-Advectional
Radiation inversion ( also known as a surface temperature inversion)
This occurs when the colder air of ground cools the air lying in contact with it through radiation.
It occurs generally in colder nights.
It is common in higher latitudes, in lower and middle latitudes it generally occurs at night only and gets destroyed in the day time.
Subsidence inversion ( also known as an upper surface temperature inversion)
A descending layer of air gets compressed and heated up due to the increase in atmospheric pressure. This causes a decrease in the normal lapse rate.
Air at higher altitude gets warmer than the air below it. This phenomenon is known as subsidence inversion.
It is common in the northern continent during dry winter and subtropical oceans. This is because of air subsidies in these regions.
Advection
Valley inversion
It occurs in intermontane regions. In this type of inversion, the temperature of the lower layer of air increases instead of decreasing with increase in altitude.
Surface radiates heat and cools down faster than the upper layer of air. This colder air becomes heavier and descends faster. Thus causing temperature inversion.
Frontal/ cyclonic inversion
When warm and cold fronts meet with each other especially in mid-latitudes, the warm front being lighter rises higher and cold front being heavier settles below it. This leads to temperature inversion.
Unlike another horizontal temperature inversion, it has a considerable slope.

The economic impact of temperature inversion:
Increase spending on health: it allows suspended particulate matter to remain in lower altitude causing smog. This makes people vulnerable to respiratory issues, hence increased spending on health.

Ecological cost:
Trees along the lower slope get bitten by frost in valleys.
Reduced visibility due to fog hampers the vegetation and human settlement.
Agricultural cost: In regions where there is a low-level inversion is present. It hampers the growth of convectional clouds and thus prevents showers which are important for crop growth.

Conclusion
A temperature inversion is a natural phenomenon, however, the condition of excessive smog occurs due to higher pollutant released into the atmosphere by anthropogenic emissions. Reducing such emission can help humanity better mitigate these challenges.