Differential Heating
The earth is not heated evenly, the earth's wobble, equator, and composition all effect the heating of the earth differently. Differential heating can be as simple as the seasons, which occur because the earth's axis is tilted at a 23.5° angle. Macro-climate and micro-climate relate to the climate zone of a body of land. A micro-climate is a small area of land that has its own characteristic weather pattern (like San Fransisco).A macro-climate is a big area of land that has its own characteristic weather pattern (like a tropical zone or desert).
A second example of differential heating is when the sun sends its energy in through the atmosphere efficiently, towards the earth and hits along the equator, causing the water along the equator begins to evaporate. The hot air and evaporation result in the air to traveling upwards into the atmosphere where it begins to cool until it can no longer travel upwards. At this point the air must go somewhere, so it travels north or south of the equator, and travels downward to create the tropics. Air traveling south of the equator is sinking air, and air traveling north of the equator is rising air. This cycle occurs because when the water evaporates and air moves upwards near the eqautor, the atmospheric pressure is lower. When the air begins to sink, the atmospheric pressure is higher. Pressure fuels convection which conducts weather. Convection is the vertical movement of air, and wind is the lateral movement of air. Winds always move from high to low pressure.
Another component to differential heating is the earth's surface compositions, all of which consist of different levels of thermal conductivity. Thermal conductivity plays a major role in differential heating, because some compositions have higher thermal conductivity, allowing them to heat and cool more quickly than compositions with low thermal conductivity.
Albedo
From the Greek word for "whiteness," albedo is a reflection coefficient, which helps regulate the incoming energy and radiation on earth. Albedo has a coefficient of .3 on earth, making it possible to reflect 30% of incoming energy and radiation off of ice and clouds (sometimes water) and send it back into space. Since albedo relies mostly on ice for its reflection process to work, and the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing and capturing more and more energy, causing the earth to heat and ice to melt, albedo's reflection percentage has begun to decrease, resulting in global warming.
The earth is not heated evenly, the earth's wobble, equator, and composition all effect the heating of the earth differently. Differential heating can be as simple as the seasons, which occur because the earth's axis is tilted at a 23.5° angle. Macro-climate and micro-climate relate to the climate zone of a body of land. A micro-climate is a small area of land that has its own characteristic weather pattern (like San Fransisco).A macro-climate is a big area of land that has its own characteristic weather pattern (like a tropical zone or desert).
A second example of differential heating is when the sun sends its energy in through the atmosphere efficiently, towards the earth and hits along the equator, causing the water along the equator begins to evaporate. The hot air and evaporation result in the air to traveling upwards into the atmosphere where it begins to cool until it can no longer travel upwards. At this point the air must go somewhere, so it travels north or south of the equator, and travels downward to create the tropics. Air traveling south of the equator is sinking air, and air traveling north of the equator is rising air. This cycle occurs because when the water evaporates and air moves upwards near the eqautor, the atmospheric pressure is lower. When the air begins to sink, the atmospheric pressure is higher. Pressure fuels convection which conducts weather. Convection is the vertical movement of air, and wind is the lateral movement of air. Winds always move from high to low pressure.
Another component to differential heating is the earth's surface compositions, all of which consist of different levels of thermal conductivity. Thermal conductivity plays a major role in differential heating, because some compositions have higher thermal conductivity, allowing them to heat and cool more quickly than compositions with low thermal conductivity.
Albedo
From the Greek word for "whiteness," albedo is a reflection coefficient, which helps regulate the incoming energy and radiation on earth. Albedo has a coefficient of .3 on earth, making it possible to reflect 30% of incoming energy and radiation off of ice and clouds (sometimes water) and send it back into space. Since albedo relies mostly on ice for its reflection process to work, and the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing and capturing more and more energy, causing the earth to heat and ice to melt, albedo's reflection percentage has begun to decrease, resulting in global warming.