Geography 2152F/G Lecture 5: Geo 2152 Week 5-Lecture Earths Energy Balance

• School: Western University
• Department: Geography
• Course: Geography 2152F/G
• Professor: Mark Moscicki

Document Summary

There is an equilibrium between incoming radiation and outgoing radiation. The earth intercepts only a small portion of the sun"s radiation. The sun"s energy drives the hydrologic cycle and all weather phenomena on earth: nearly all of the energy available at the earth"s surface comes from the sun. It is composed of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). The remaining 1% consists of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other trace" gases. The atmosphere: water vapour in the atmosphere can result in cloud development and the formation of precipitation, water vapour comes from evaporation from the oceans. Structure of the atmosphere: all weather (i. e. clouds and precipitation) is confined to the troposphere. The ozone layer (25 km above the surface) protects us from the. Sun"s harmful uv rays; it is found in the stratosphere. 7% of sun rays are uv and harmful to us: we live in the troposphere. Cloud names generally contain a prefix and a suffix.