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The temperature change is proportional to the solar radiation minus some random energy loss which is a function of time.
What predictions can be drawn from this hypothesis? Check all that apply:
Wait, you may be saying, you can't explain every little thing that happens in the atmosphere, can you? True, but you'd like to have at least a likely cause for anything you can't predict specifically. And the diurnal heating cycle is awfully predictable.
How about a compromise? We'll treat those little bumps and wiggles as random variations, but we'll continue to assume that the overall diurnal temperature cycle is deterministic and can be explained by simple physical processes.
Don't forget, the point of this module is to explain the gross features of the diurnal temperature cycle. Attributing the small- scale features to randomness (actually, they are probably due mostly to turbulence and the vertical mixing of air) does nothing to explain the gross features. And the gross features are what we are trying to explain.
In general, a hypothesis is "no good" unless it makes specific predictions which can be tested. This hypothesis doesn't really pass that test. Go back to the list and select a better hypothesis.
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