{"id":91929,"date":"2025-06-01T11:09:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T11:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?p=91929"},"modified":"2025-06-01T11:09:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T11:09:26","slug":"consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/","title":{"rendered":"Consider the following statements:\n1. High clouds primarily reflect so"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consider the following statements:
\n1. High clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth.
\n2. Low clouds have a high absorption of infrared radiation emanating from the Earth’s surface and thus cause warming effect.
\nWhich of the statements given above is\/are correct?<\/p>\n

[amp_mcq option1=”1 only” option2=”2 only” option3=”Both 1 and 2″ option4=”Neither 1 nor 2″ correct=”option4″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
This question was previously asked in<\/div>\n
UPSC IAS – 2022<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Download PDF<\/a>Attempt Online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe correct answer is D) Neither 1 nor 2.
\n<\/section>\n
\nStatement 1 is incorrect. High clouds, such as cirrus clouds, are typically thin and made of ice crystals. They are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation (little reflection) but effectively absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth’s surface, trapping heat and causing a *warming* effect.
\nStatement 2 is incorrect. Low clouds, such as stratus and cumulus clouds, are generally thick and made of water droplets. They have a high albedo, meaning they are very effective at reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, thus causing a net *cooling* effect on the Earth’s surface. While they also absorb and emit infrared radiation, their dominant effect on the overall energy balance is cooling due to solar reflection.
\n<\/section>\n
\nThe impact of clouds on climate is complex and depends on their altitude, type, and properties. High clouds tend to warm the planet, while low clouds tend to cool it. The overall net effect of clouds globally is a cooling influence, primarily due to the strong reflection of solar radiation by low clouds outweighing the greenhouse effect of high clouds.
\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth. 2. Low clouds have a high absorption of infrared radiation emanating from the Earth’s surface and thus cause warming effect. Which of the statements given above is\/are correct? [amp_mcq option1=”1 only” option2=”2 only” option3=”Both 1 and 2″ … <\/p>\n

Detailed SolutionConsider the following statements:
\n1. High clouds primarily reflect so<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1092],"tags":[1108,1218,1106],"class_list":["post-91929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc-ias","tag-1108","tag-clouds","tag-world-and-physical-geography","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"\nConsider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect so<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The correct answer is D) Neither 1 nor 2. Statement 1 is incorrect. High clouds, such as cirrus clouds, are typically thin and made of ice crystals. They are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation (little reflection) but effectively absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, trapping heat and causing a *warming* effect. Statement 2 is incorrect. Low clouds, such as stratus and cumulus clouds, are generally thick and made of water droplets. They have a high albedo, meaning they are very effective at reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, thus causing a net *cooling* effect on the Earth's surface. While they also absorb and emit infrared radiation, their dominant effect on the overall energy balance is cooling due to solar reflection.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Consider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect so\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The correct answer is D) Neither 1 nor 2. Statement 1 is incorrect. High clouds, such as cirrus clouds, are typically thin and made of ice crystals. They are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation (little reflection) but effectively absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, trapping heat and causing a *warming* effect. Statement 2 is incorrect. Low clouds, such as stratus and cumulus clouds, are generally thick and made of water droplets. They have a high albedo, meaning they are very effective at reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, thus causing a net *cooling* effect on the Earth's surface. While they also absorb and emit infrared radiation, their dominant effect on the overall energy balance is cooling due to solar reflection.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MCQ and Quiz for Exams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T11:09:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Consider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect so","description":"The correct answer is D) Neither 1 nor 2. Statement 1 is incorrect. High clouds, such as cirrus clouds, are typically thin and made of ice crystals. They are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation (little reflection) but effectively absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, trapping heat and causing a *warming* effect. Statement 2 is incorrect. Low clouds, such as stratus and cumulus clouds, are generally thick and made of water droplets. They have a high albedo, meaning they are very effective at reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, thus causing a net *cooling* effect on the Earth's surface. While they also absorb and emit infrared radiation, their dominant effect on the overall energy balance is cooling due to solar reflection.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Consider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect so","og_description":"The correct answer is D) Neither 1 nor 2. Statement 1 is incorrect. High clouds, such as cirrus clouds, are typically thin and made of ice crystals. They are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation (little reflection) but effectively absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, trapping heat and causing a *warming* effect. Statement 2 is incorrect. Low clouds, such as stratus and cumulus clouds, are generally thick and made of water droplets. They have a high albedo, meaning they are very effective at reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, thus causing a net *cooling* effect on the Earth's surface. While they also absorb and emit infrared radiation, their dominant effect on the overall energy balance is cooling due to solar reflection.","og_url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/","og_site_name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","article_published_time":"2025-06-01T11:09:26+00:00","author":"rawan239","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rawan239","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/","name":"Consider the following statements: 1. High clouds primarily reflect so","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-01T11:09:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T11:09:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209"},"description":"The correct answer is D) Neither 1 nor 2. Statement 1 is incorrect. High clouds, such as cirrus clouds, are typically thin and made of ice crystals. They are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation (little reflection) but effectively absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, trapping heat and causing a *warming* effect. Statement 2 is incorrect. Low clouds, such as stratus and cumulus clouds, are generally thick and made of water droplets. They have a high albedo, meaning they are very effective at reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space, thus causing a net *cooling* effect on the Earth's surface. While they also absorb and emit infrared radiation, their dominant effect on the overall energy balance is cooling due to solar reflection.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/consider-the-following-statements1-high-clouds-primarily-reflect-so\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPSC IAS","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/category\/upsc-ias\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Consider the following statements: 1. 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