THE CLIMATE SYSTEM

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• Short Term (hourly, daily, weekly) changes in:
  temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds UAm
• The changes in weather are due to
  air masses, fronts (cold, warm), jetstream
  
• North America Weather Maps
  NASA color   anim.   SSEC .mp4   still
• Extreme weather events
  hurricanes (in Arizona!), tornadoes, floods, droughts
  
• The cost of Extreme weather to humans

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Energy for climate is from the sun
The Earth is a sphere


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The tropical surplus temperature causes air to raise.

This pattern is called "Hadley Circulation" anim.

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We can envision three cells of raising and descending air, in the three climate zones. These are deflected by the rotation of the Earth - the Coriolis effect. cf

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The three cells are broken up by the continents to produce atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns - the major features of global climate.

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The seasons also result from the facts that energy for climate is from the sun
The Earth is a sphere


perihelion Jan 3 vs. winter solstice Dec 22
    spr. eq. Mar.20 / sum. sol. Jun.21 / aut. eq. Sep.21 / win. sol/ Dec.22

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