8.1-8.1 Ocean and Climate

8.1 Earth’s Heat Budget

  • heat budget — the incoming and outgoing heat on earth that must be balanced for constant conditions

  • incoming heat = outgoing heat

Solar energy

  • some goes into atmosphere, clouds, and earth surface

  • or absorbed by water vapor, clouds, and dust in atmosphere → turns into heat

  • energy absorbed by the earth goes back to atmosphere through conduction (direct contact), radiation (radiating heat in infrared radiation), and latent heat (largest pathway- through phase change, heat released or absorbed when water goes between S, L, Vapor state where heat travels along with water vapor into the atmosphere and returns back to the oceans when condenses)

Differential Heating

  • indirect sunlight on earth at the poles because the sunlight is more likely reflected than absorbed

  • poles also have higher albedo (how reflective its surface is) due to how light its surface is, ice snow and clouds in the poles increase albedo

Temperature Moderation

  • the poles emit more heat than received and the tropics receive more than they emit

  • but these extreme temperatures are regulated and prevented from going extreme through the transport of energy from tropics → poles

  • transfers are through ocean and atmosphere circulations

8.2 Winds and the Coriolis Effect

  • result of how different latitudes of earth rotate at different speeds, the equator must travel farther than the poles

  • Coriolis deflection in the North will always be right

  • Coriolis deflection in the South will always be left

  • Coriolis effect is stronger at the poles and weaker at the equator

3 Convection cells Per Hemisphere

  1. Hadley cell- 0-30 degrees (rising air at equator and sinking air at 30)

  2. Ferrel cell - 30-60 degrees (sinking air at 30 degrees and rising air at 60)

  3. Polar Cell- 60-90 degrees (cold air sinking and rising at 60 degrees)

  • winds blow towards the equator at 0-30 degrees and 90-60 degrees, and towards the poles at 60-90 degrees

  • high/low pressure zones occur between wind bands

  • high pressure— where air is descending

  • low pressure— where air is rising

  • along the equator with rising air (LP) are doldrums or Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) where trade winds converge

  • at 30 degrees are descending air (HP) horse latitudes or subtropical highs

  • 60 degrees are rising air (LP) called the polar front