Recent studies indicate that the average surface temperature of a planet has been rising steadily. Some scientists have modeled the temperature by the linear function T = 0.02t + 8.55, where T is temperature in ∘C and t represents years since 1900. (a) What do the slope and T-intercept represent? The slope is, which means that the average surface temperature of the planet is at a rate of ∘C per year. The T-intercept is, which presents the average surface temperature in the year. (b) Use the equation to predict the planet's average surface temperature in 2010. ∘C
