Which of the following statements about inversion of temperature is/ar

Which of the following statements about inversion of temperature is/are correct?
1. Temperature increases with increasing altitude.
2. A long winter night with clear skies is an ideal situation.
3. It is a short term phenomenon and is common all over the globe except at the poles.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1 only
1, 2 and 3
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CDS-2 – 2022
The correct answer is A because statements 1 and 2 are correct regarding the conditions and nature of temperature inversion, while statement 3 contains an incorrect generalization about its occurrence at the poles.
– Statement 1: Temperature inversion is a phenomenon where temperature increases with increasing altitude in a layer of the atmosphere, contrary to the normal decrease (lapse rate) in the troposphere. Thus, this statement correctly describes the core characteristic of inversion.
– Statement 2: Ideal conditions for surface temperature inversion include a long winter night (allowing for maximum radiative cooling of the surface), clear skies (enhancing outgoing radiation and preventing atmospheric mixing), and calm air (preventing mixing of cold air near the surface with warmer air above).
– Statement 3: Temperature inversion is indeed a short-term phenomenon and is common in many parts of the world. However, it is not necessarily absent at the poles; strong and prolonged temperature inversions can occur in polar regions, especially during the long polar night, due to intense radiative cooling of the ice and snow surface.
Temperature inversions trap pollutants near the surface and can lead to severe air pollution episodes. They can be classified based on their formation mechanism, such as radiation inversion (surface cooling), advection inversion (warm air flowing over cold surface), frontal inversion (warm air overriding cold air), and mechanical inversion (subsidence).
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