EESB03H3 Chapter 10: EESB03 Chapter 10 - Wind-Global Systems
12 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Local winds vary considerably from day to day and from season to season. Additionally, the general circulation interacts with oceans to produce multi-year climatic variations such as el nino, which can alter global precipitation and temperature patterns. Global wind patterns can also transport material into the atmosphere great distances, either injected (like volcanic ash or pollution) or lofted (like dust eroded by wind from dry desert areas). General circulation represents only the average airflow around the world. Actual winds may vary considerably from this average at any place and time. The underlying cause of the general (cid:272)i(cid:396)(cid:272)ulatio(cid:374) is the u(cid:374)e(cid:395)ual heati(cid:374)g of the ea(cid:396)th"s su(cid:396)fa(cid:272)e. a(cid:448)e(cid:396)aged o(cid:448)e(cid:396) the e(cid:374)ti(cid:396)e glo(cid:271)e, incoming solar radiation absorbed by the earth system is roughly equal to the outgoing ir radiation emitted to space. However, this energy balance is not maintained for each latitude because the tropics experience a net gain in energy, whereas the polar regions suffer a net loss.
