Explain the factors that determine the climate of the earth as a whole
Answers
Answer:
The two most important factors in the climate of an area are temperature and precipitation. The yearly average temperature of the area is obviously important, but the yearly range in temperature is also important.
Explanation:
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Answer:
As far as we know, Earth is the only planet in our solar system to harbor life. Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly why that is, but one reason might be that we have plenty of liquid water. The outer planets are very cold, so any water there would be locked up in ice. The inner planets are piping hot, so scientists think most water there would boil away.
Earth, however, falls right in the middle. It sits in a narrow band, known to astronomers as the Goldilocks zone, where scientists think liquid water can survive and life might be able to flourish. Like the bowl of porridge in the children’s story, Earth is not too hot and not too cold. It’s just right.
The distance between Earth and the Sun is also a good place to start when it comes to understanding Earth’s climate. It is the main factor affecting the planet’s average temperature, but it is not the only one. The temperature of the Earth is also influenced by the composition of the atmosphere, which contains heat-trapping greenhouse gases and other chemicals injected by volcanic eruptions and human activities.
Climate starts with the Sun
Aristotle was the first to attempt to explain weather and climate in his book Meteorology back in 350 BCE (Figure 1). He believed that there were four elements – fire, air, water, and earth – and that they interacted to produce the weather phenomena we experience on Earth. Working with these four elements, he was able to explain some things well, but not others. For instance, he correctly wrote that heat (fire) could evaporate water, and that clouds formed when water vapor condensed in the air. But he also wrote – incorrectly – that thunderbolts fell from the sky when it “exhaled” and that shooting stars were burning air.
Meteorology by Aristotle
Figure 1: Aristotle’s Meteorology, published in 350 BCE, was the first comprehensive text on weather and climate, although much of it later turned out to be incorrect. This version was printed in 1560.
Many of Aristotle’s explanations of climate, while creative, were proved wrong by the 2,000 years of scientific discoveries that came after him. But he got one major point right: The Sun is the most important factor in driving climate. Or as Aristotle put it, “The Sun's motion alone is sufficient to account for the origin of terrestrial warmth and heat” (Meteorology, Book 1, Part 3). We would amend this now to say that the Sun’s energy, rather than its motion, accounts for warmth and heat.
Indeed, the Sun is the primary source of energy at Earth’s surface. This energy is produced by nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core, a process that heats the core to approximately 15 million degrees Celsius. The heat created inside the Sun then makes its way through the star’s interior to the surface, where the temperature is a mere 5,800° C. From the surface, this energy radiates into space in the form of visible light and other kinds of energy along the electromagnetic spectrum (see Figure 2 for the complete solar emission spectrum). You can learn more about light and electromagnetism in our module on Light and Electromagnetism.
