The Five Major Components Of The Global Climate System

The Global Climate System

The global climate system can be defined as the interaction of the five major components of the Earth: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere to determine the Earth’s global climate. Involves the flow of energy, water and carbon.

Atmosphere: the envelope of gases surrounding the Earth. It is roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with traces of other gases and plays a major role in the water cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and the carbon cycle.

Hydrosphere: all of the Earth’s water including surface water, ground water and water vapour.

Cryosphere: all of the areas of the Earth that are frozen.

Biosphere: the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the Earth or another planet occupied by living organisms.

Land surface: any part of the Earth 's surface not covered by a body of water.

The Earth’s global climate is the long-term, average weather conditions for the Earth, calculated over long periods

These include the heat budget, the natural greenhouse effect, the hydrological cycle, atmospheric circulation, ocean currents and the carbon cycle.

The Heat Budget And The Greenhouse Effect

All incoming solar radiation (insolation) must eventually return back to space to maintain relatively stable temperatures on Earth. This radiation balance is known as the heat budget. The global heat budget is the balance between incoming and outgoing solar radiation on Earth and it is the driving force of all other climate systems.

About 30% of the solar energy received by the Earth is reflected back to space by clouds, atmospheric particles or bright surfaces such as snow or ice. Approximately 70% of the total incoming energy received by the Earth is absorbed. Of this, 19% of incoming solar radiation known as insolation is absorbed by the atmosphere by water vapour, dust and the ozone. The remaining 51% is absorbed by the land and