Images from “The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change”

Back to Index The origin of atmospheric circulation Figure 10. The origin of the atmospheric circulation. The strong net heating of the lower tropical atmosphere by sensible and latent heat flux from the solar-heated surface drives the north-south overturning shown schematically on the left. The poleward moving air in the upper atmosphere attempts to conserve the absolute angular momentum it acquired through frictional drag at the surface near the equator and accelerates rapidly eastward relative to the earth's surface as shown on the right. Previous 10 of 77 Next