GEOS 1004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Sea Surface Temperature, Atmospheric Circulation, Rain Shadow

• School: Virginia Tech
• Department: Geosciences
• Course: GEOS 1004
• Professor: James A. Spotila

Document Summary

What factors control earth"s climate: geography, latitude (solar insolation, shapes of continents; influence atmospheric and ocean flow. Plus local effects; e. g. jet stream and gulf of mexico moisture, effect on central. Us: topography: elevation controls precipitation (orographic effect; rainshadow) influences atmospheric circulation. 1 november, 2017: circulation in the atmosphere and oceans driven by thermal variation with latitude, geography, thermohaline effect, and modified by coriolis effect. Example of global circulation are the trade winds. E. g. where they converge near equator is called intertropical convergence. Sea surface temperature affect climate: far more heat stored in oceans than in atmosphere. Has a global effect on weather: changes in net solar radiation and seasonality are due to changes in orbital parameters eccentricity (100 ka), tilt (41 ka), precession/wobble (23 ka). Milankovitch cycles are the reason for major glaciations every 100 ka (glacial- intergalacial cycles) (glacial-interglacial cycles), and changes in climate at the thousand-year timescale. 1 november, 2017: variation in sun"s output.