What is the main cause of temperature changes in the atmosphere?

Question

This is a science question.

Answer 1

The unequal heating of the earths surface from the sun.

Answer 2

Much of it comes down to just two things - winds and oceans.

Around the equator temperatures are considerably higher than the polar regions with varying degrees of warmth inbetween - as a rough rule of thumb the further from the equator you are the colder it gets.

For want of a better way of describing it, the equator is facing toward the sun so the heat from the sun hits the it at a 90 degree angle, as you move away from the equator the angle decreases so the heat from the sun is spread over a larger area (it's not quite that simple but that's the gist of it).

The heat from the equatorial regions is carried around the world via wind and ocean currents - warm air and water heading away from the equator and cold air and water heading towards it. The cold air and water is subsequently reheated and moves away from the equator and so the cycle continues.

Depending where you are on the Earth's surface and whether the predominant wind is coming from, or blowing toward, the equator determines if the wind is a warm one or a cold one.

The actual picture is much more complex but I don't know how detailed an answer you require. hope this helps.

Answer 3

Methane. All of the gas people have passed over the years of eating White Castle hamburgers and Taco Bell bean burritos. Or maybe it was from all of the aerosol cans of hairspray I went through in the 80's, wrecking the ozone layer.