EEB428H1 Study Guide - Final Guide: Atmospheric Circulation, Acanthophis, Acer Saccharum
21 Apr 2016
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Rece ived radiation is unevenly distributed over the planet, because the sun heats equatorial regions more than polar regions. When averaged over a year, the incoming energy in both the earth and its atmosphere equals the outgoing energy. If we consider the entire earth-atmosphere system, then the amount of radiation entering the system must equal to the amount leaving, or the system would continually heat or cool. Not all of this energy is radiative energy; some is sensible and latent heat. If earth had no atmosphere, the globally averaged surface temperature would be -18 degrees celsius. Because earth does have an atmosphere, the average surface temperature actually is 15 degrees celsius. Atmospheric gases only absorb some wavelengths of energy but are transparent to others. The absorption patterns of water vapor (blue peaks) and carbon dioxide (pink peaks) overlap in some wavelengths.
