Understand The Earth's Climate System

In order to understand the Earth’s climate system, we must first identify some of the components of it. The cryosphere consists of Polar ice caps, sea ice, ice sheets, and glaciers. The geosphere consists of the land, the hydrosphere consists of the oceans lakes and rivers, the biosphere consists of ecosystems, and the atmosphere consists of air. Each one of these components play a role in Earth’s climate system. For example, the cryosphere and its ice caps, glaciers, and ice sheets are important because they reflect some of the solar radiation away from Earth’s surface. The biosphere plays a major in carbon dioxide concentration through photosynthesis and respiration, which as a result, influences climate change. The vegetation present

Approximately 23 percent of incoming solar energy is absorbed in the atmosphere by ozone, dust, and water vapor. The remaining 48 percent of incoming solar energy passes through the atmosphere and is absorbed by the surface. This means approximately 71 percent of all incoming solar energy being absorbed by the Earth (Earth’s Energy Balance, 2013). The energy from the sun is transferred between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, in three primary ways. Radiation, the transfer of heat energy by electromagnetic wave motion, conduction, the transfer of heat by molecular agitation within a material without any motion of the material and convection, the transfer of heat by the motion of mass in fluid such as air or water when the heated fluid moves away from the heat source and carries energy (Atmospheric Processes-radiation,

Global warming occurs when greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and other pollutants collect in the atmosphere and absorb solar radiation that has reflected off the Earth’s surface. This leads to what is most commonly known as the greenhouse effect, as well as radiative forcing. In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels for electricity accounts for most of the heat trapping pollution in our atmosphere, creating nearly two billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. The second largest source of heat trapping pollution is caused by modes transportation such as automobiles, creating nearly 1.7 billion tons of emissions per year. In an attempt to reduce the amount of pollution caused by vehicle emissions, cities such as Chicago, Illinois require emissions testing before license plates can be renewed. With the global population growing, the demand for energy is growing as well. We can expect to see an increase in pollution unless action is taken to reduce it (MacMillan,