EESA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Shortwave Radiation, Heat Flux, Solar Irradiance
6 Dec 2015
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Refer to lecture 3 notes for further details. Dense iron core, solid at its centre, molten surrounding it. In the upper mantle, the asthenosphere is soft rock, near its melting point or already molten. The lithosphere floats on top of the upper mantle. Convection moves the tectonic plates of the lithosphere. A warm substance is warm because it holds more energy than a cold substance. If a warm substance cools down, it is due to energy leaving the substance. In a steady-state earth, incoming energy will equal outgoing energy over a period of time. If this doesn"t occur, the earth will gradually start to warm up or cool down. The climate is all about energy fluxes and balance between incoming and outgoing energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. Wavelength: electromagnetic (em) radiation travels in waves. The distance between two wave peaks is called the wavelength.
