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MAINS 2013
GS1
5 marks

What do you understand by the phenomenon of temperature inversion in meteorology? How does it affect the weather and the habitants of the place?

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4 min
100 words
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What the examiner wants

Explain temperature inversion and its effect on weather and people.

ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1Definition: temperature rises with height instead of falling (normal lapse rate about 6.5°C/km)≈15 words
  2. 2Types: radiation (long clear winter nights), advection, frontal, subsidence, valley inversion≈15 words
  3. 3Weather: stable air, fog, frost, no convection rain≈15 words
  4. 4People: smog and pollution trapping (Delhi winters), frost damage in valleys, settlements and orchards on slopes≈15 words

Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.

Answer plan

DefinitionConditionsTypesWeather effectsHuman effects

Where marks usually go

  • No diagram of the inverted profile
  • Skipping the effect on inhabitants

Draw this

  • Graph of temperature vs height showing normal lapse rate and inversion layer

Value addition

  • EventLondon's Great Smog (December 1952) was caused by an inversion trapping coal smoke; it led to the Clean Air Act 1956.UK history
  • ExampleDelhi's winter smog worsens when radiation inversion traps emissions near the ground.CPCB air quality data