OCS 1005 : Oceanography Exam 3

• School: LSU
• Department: Oceanography & Coastal Sciences
• Course: OCS 1005
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Greenhouse gas effect: 1) solar radiation passes through the clear atmosphere 2) most radiation is absorbed by the earth"s surface and warms it 3) some solar radiation is reflected by the earth and the atmosphere. ~ infrared radiation is emitted from the earths surface. Some of the infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere, and some is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules. The effect of this is to warm the earth"s surface and the lower atmosphere. The solar heating of earth varies with latitude: equal amounts of sunlight are spread over a greater surface area near the poles than in the tropics. Ice near the poles reflects much of the energy that reaches the surface there. The ocean does not boil away near the equator or freeze solid near the poles because heat is transferred by winds and ocean currents from equatorial to polar regions. The solar heating of earth also varies with the seasons.