EPS 80 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Ocean Acidification, Sea Level Rise, Water Cycle

• School: Berkeley
• Department: Earth And Planetary Science
• Course: EPS 80
• Professor: Scott Hassler

Document Summary

The sun is the primary source of energy for earth"s climate system. Basically heat engine driven by solar radiation with many complexities. The direct effect is the warming of the earth"s surface and the troposphere: some of the infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere. A little greenhouse is a good thing. Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the earth system". Solar heating is unequal over surface and it varies with seasons. Heating of land and ocean causes evaporation- leading to clouds and precipitation elsewhere via wind. Unequal atmospheric heating also generates areas of high and low pressure- resulting airflow = wind. Wind driven surface currents transfer heat from tropics towards poles: oceans are a major heat sink (source of heat storage) 6: cooling surface currents sink and form deep ocean water, deep ocean water circulation is a conveyor system, moving ocean water and heat around the globe. Human actions are causing current global climate change- scientific consensus.