GEOLOGY 31 CHAP 2

Incoming radiation an high latitudes

Sun's rays strike at a more indirect angle

Incoming radiation from the sun

Wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.7 micrometers (VISIBLE LIGHT) Short wave radiation

absolute zero

-273 degrees celsius, 0K (kelvin)

Specific heat of water

1 cal/g*K

Earth's average albedo

10%

Earths tilts

23.5 degrees

Of the 70% of solar radiation that enters the climate

3/4ths is absorbed by Earth's surface and 1/4th by clouds, and water vapor in the atmosphere.

Snow and Ice at higher latitudes and their albedo percentage

60- 90%

Electromagnetic spectrum

All of the frequencies or wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation

intertropical convergence zone

An area of Earth that receives the most intense sunlight; where the ascending branches of the two Hadley cells converge. Region near the equator where the northern and the southern trade winds meet.

Back radiation and green house gases

Earths greenhouse gases absorb 95 percent of longwave back radiation emitted from the surface, which doesn't allow heat to back radiate into space, which makes the earth 31 percent warmer than it would be otherwise.

ELECTROMAGNETIS RADIATION

How energy travels through space in these wave forms

Tropical and subtropical latitudes below 35 degrees have a net excess of incoming solar radiation over outgoing back radiation

Latitudes higher than 35 degrees, the opposite happens

Two main gases in the atmos

Nitrogen and Oxygen (NOT GREEN HOUSE GASES) They do not trap outgoing radiation

Thermal inertia

Tendency of a substance to resist change in temperature with the gain or loss of heat energy. Differences in amplitude and timing of response between land surfaces and the upper ocean layers

specific heat

The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1 degree celcius number of calories absorbed

water vapor feedback

The net effect of increasing water vapor in global warming. Consists of the stronger positive feedback due to increased specific humidity and the weaker negative feedback caused by decreasing saturated adiabatic lapse rate.

Sensible heat

The product of the temperature of the air and its specific heat. It is carried along moving air masses

lapse rate

The rate at which Earth's atmosphere cools with increasing altitude, or warms with decreasing altitude.

Convection

The transfer of heat by the movement of a fluid

Clouds

Trap outgoing radiation from Earth's surface

Heat energy is measured in units of

calories and joules

OZONE

a gas molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms located in the stratosphere blocks UV radiation

Hadley cell

a system of vertical and horizontal air circulation predominating in tropical and subtropical regions and creating major weather patterns. Tropical Circulation Pattern The rising motion in the tropical part of the hadley cell represents an enormous transfer of heat through the atmosphere from low to high altitudes. The Hadley cell is completed at earths surface where trade winds from both hemispheres blow from the subtropics toward the tropics and replace the rising air.

adiabatic process

change occurring within a system as a result of transfer of energy to or from the system in the form of work only; i

Back radiation

electromagnetic energy at long (infrared) wavelengths emitted from any material with a temperature above absolute zero (0K)

water

has high thermal inertia

Average temp of earth

is 59 degrees

Incoming radiation

is stronger at low latitudes because the sun is more overhead

Water stored in 3 ways

liquid, ice, and water vapor.

atmospheric pressure

pressure exerted by the weight of the overlying column of air, which increases towards the lower elevations

Heat in low latitude oceans

provides most of the fuel that runs Earth's climate system

Monsoon

seasonal transfer of heat between the tropical ocean and the land

Low latitude oceans

store most solar heat

latent heat

the heat required to convert a solid into a liquid or vapor, or a liquid into a vapor, without change of temperature.

saturation vapor density

the maximum amount of water vapor that air can hold at a given temperature