Vertical heat transfers - heat is also transferred vertically, thus preventing the Earth's surface from getting hotter and the atmosphere colder. This is achieved through radiation, conduction, convection and the transfer of latent heat.
|
|
||
| | Back | | ||
| # Solar energy (insolation) 'powers the atmospheric system and the energy circulations within it' the amount of solar energy (heat budget) received varies with latitude. | ||
| # The tropics have an energy surplus as they gain more from insolation than is lost by radiation. But the high latitudes and polar latitudes have an energy deficiency losing more radiation than is gained by insolation. | ||
| # This imbalance sets up a transfer of heat energy from the tropics to higher latitudes. | ||
| Structure of the atmosphere "Most of the atmosphere, and therefore most of our climate and weather, is concentrated within the troposphere (16km at equator and 8km at the poles)". Source: Waugh | ||
|
|
||
| Vertical change in average global atmospheric temperature. Variations in the way temperature changes with height indicates the atmosphere is composed of a number of different layers (labeled above). These variations are due to changes in the chemical and physical characteristics of the atmosphere with altitude. Source: http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7b.html | ||
| Insolation: Only a quarter of the incoming solar radiation reaches the Earth's surface directly. Source: Waugh | ||
|
|
||
| The Heat Budget: " ...as the Earth is neither heating up or cooling down, there must be a balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation." There is a positive heat balance within the tropics and a negative heat balance in polar regions. Source: Waugh | ||
|
|
||
| Balance between average net shortwave and longwave radiation from 90° North to 90° South. source: http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7j.html | ||
| Two major transfers of heat take place to prevent tropical areas from overheating... | ||
| Horizontal heat transfers - heat is transferred away from the tropics, thus preventing the equator from becoming increasingly hotter and the poles colder. Winds (including jet streams) , hurricanes and depressions are responsible for 80% of this heat transfer ... and ocean currents for 20% | ||
|
Vertical heat transfers - heat is also transferred vertically, thus preventing the Earth's surface from getting hotter and the atmosphere colder. This is achieved through radiation, conduction, convection and the transfer of latent heat. |
||
|
|
||
| Multiple Choice Quiz Have you learnt anything yet? | ||
| resource made using... |
|
|