Climate

- Solar energy inputs varies with:
• Latitude
- Earth's angle
• Season
- Earth's tilt
- Heat energy is redistributed:
• Atmospheric circulation
- Hadley cells
1. Incoming solar radiation
2. warm air rises
3. warm air expands
4. warm air cools
5. Clouds form
6. Air cools and descends
• expansion and uplift of equatorial air (rising warm air)
- Coriolis effect
• wind
- 60% of latitudinal heat transfer
- driven by:
• heating of tropics
• heat redistribution
• Changes in air density (Pressure gradient)
- Polar cell
• subsidence of cold converging air at the poles (subsiding cold air)
- Ferrell cell
• transfers warm air to high latitudes and shifts cold air back to the sub tropics
• Ocean circulation
- surface (wind currents)
- deep water (temperature and water density)
- 40% of heat transfer
- Global Climate is Modified by:
• Landmasses heat faster than oceans
- Land-sea breeze
- Monsoons
• massive, seasonally changing sea breeze circulations
• dry winters, wet summers
• 1/4 of close experiences monsoon climate
• Mountain ranges
- deflect trade winds
- produce rain gradients