BIO120H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Horse Latitudes, Westerlies, Great Lakes
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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O temperature variation occurs from the latitudinal gradient in temperature: hot near the equator, grading toward cold at the poles. This pattern arises from the uneven distribution of radiant electromagnetic energy that is continuously blasted at the earth from the sun. earth that we can consider the incoming photon flux as a uniform stream of parallel rays. The spherical shape of the earth makes it so that the sun"s rays strike the. Hence the reason why photon density is highest are the equatorial regions, where the surface of the earth is essentially perpendicular to the vector of the incoming photons. When photons hit those surfaces, they are absorbed and reradiated at longer, ir wavelengths. These ir light waves are absorbed by the atmosphere (especially the bottom of the atmosphere). This ir heating is closest at the equator. Patterns of climate from global to habitat scales. Tropic of cancer: the latitudinal lines around the earth at 23. 5 degrees north.
