global heat budget Flashcards
7 factors affecting the global heat budget
Energy absorbed by the Earth causes the Earth’s temperature to rise. Energy radiates back from the surface into the atmosphere, where it is absorbed by clouds and gases. These clouds and gases are heated and they in turn radiate energy, some of which is returned to the Earth’s surface
The return of this energy from the atmosphere once again heats the surface and helps to maintain surface temperatures
The system of energy movement can be interrupted by the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide from factories, for example, energy that would be reflected back into space is trapped and this causes the atmosphere to heat up further, creating what is called the Greenhouse Effect
Most of the energy that heats the atmosphere actually comes from the earth’s surface. This happens through conduction; that is, energy rising from the Earth’s surface and through latent heat given out when evaporated water rises from the surface and condenses in the atmosphere
Places at the equator or between the tropics are always hotter than places at higher latitudes. This is because the earth is a sphere and the sun’s rays strike the areas around the centre of the earth at right angles
At higher latitude the rays strike the surface at a wider angle. The net effect of this is that surfaces near the equator receive more insolation - that is, Sun’s heat - than surfaces nearer the poles
The insolation striking the surface at the equator heats up a smaller surface area than the same amount of insolation at higher latitudes
