Water plays a critical role in weather pat- terns and climate. What property exhibited by water causes this?
1. Water is a colorless molecule so it allows visible and infrared light to pass through the atmosphere to reach Earth's surface.
2. Water has a very high specific heat and so can absorb and store a lot of heat energy.
3. Water has a very low boiling point rela- tive to a lot of other components of the atmo- sphere so it does not trap much heat energy, leaving it free to participate in reactions with those other components.
4. Water is a very small molecule so it takes very little heat energy to raise its temperature significantly.