Consider what you know about the atmosphere. Explain the following:

What is a temperature inversion?

Where do the temperature inversions occur in the atmosphere?

What causes the major temperature inversions in the atmosphere?

A temperature inversion is a thin layer of the atmosphere where the normal decrease in temperature with height switches to the temperature increasing with height.

Temperature inversions occur in the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface, known as the troposphere.

Warm air riding over cooler air beneath