Final answer:
The assertion is false; Earth's greenhouse effect is essential for maintaining conditions that allow liquid water to exist on our planet's surface, supporting the presence of life.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that 'Earth has liquid water because the greenhouse effect is not operating in our atmosphere' is False.
In fact, Earth's ability to maintain liquid water is due to the presence of a greenhouse effect that is operating within our atmosphere.
The greenhouse effect is a natural process where certain gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide, trap heat from the sun, preventing it from escaping back to space too quickly.
This trapped heat helps to keep Earth's average surface temperature at around 15°C, which is suitable for the existence of liquid water and life as we know it.
Without this greenhouse effect, Earth's surface would be too cold for liquid water, with an estimated average temperature of -18°C, resulting in a frozen world.