The ocean influences weather and climate by storing solar radiation, distributing heat and moisture around the globe, and driving weather systems. Ocean water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to form rain and storms that are then carried by trade winds.

Temperatures Cool With Increasing Latitude As latitude increases, the sun shines more obliquely and provides less warming energy.

Lines of latitude (parallels) run east-west around the globe and are used to measure distances NORTH and SOUTH of the equator. Since the equator is 0 , the latitude of the north pole, 1/4 of the way around the globe going in a northerly direction, would be 90 N. This is the highest latitude possible.

Latitude affects the amount of solar radiation a place receives. The amount of solar radiation a place receives is greatest at the equator and lessens toward the poles. Latitude is not the only factor that determines the temperature of a region.

Since the Earth is spherical in shape, all parts of the Earth do not receive equal sunlight. As the lower latitudes or the equatorial regions receive maximum sunlight, temperatures are high. The higher latitudes receive the slanting rays of the Sun and hence temperatures are low.

At higher latitudes, the angle of solar radiation is smaller, causing energy to be spread over a larger area of the surface and cooler temperatures.

The amount of solar energy received varies according to latitude due to the curvature of the earth. That’s why air temperature generally decreases from the equator towards the poles. The atmosphere becomes less dense and temperature decreases when we go to the higher altitude from the earth surface.

Solar heating of the Earth’s surface is uneven because land heats faster than water, and this causes air to warm, expand and rise over land while it cools and sinks over the cooler water surfaces. This differential heating is passed on to the air above by conduction which causes air expansion and changes in pressure.

Unequal heating of Earth, atmospheric convection currents, rotation of the earth, Coriolis effect, earth’s orbit on a tilted axis, and the circulation of ocean waters at the surface and deep ocean. What happens to the air pressure as you move from the troposphere to the exosphere?

Wind is the movement of air, caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun and the Earth’s own rotation. Differences in atmospheric pressure generate winds. At the Equator, the sun warms the water and land more than it does the rest of the globe.

Unequal heating of the earth’s surface causes temperature differences which cause pressure differences. Lower temperatures (heavy air) cause higher air pressure. Wind direction is described as where the wind is coming from. For example a northerly wind blows from the north to the south.

Usually when we talk about uneven heating of the Earth’s surface we are discussing convection. The uneven heating results in some of the atmosphere to be warmer than other parts and changes in volume and pressure which result in updrafts and can cause thunderstorms and other violent weather.

The energy that Earth receives from sunlight is balanced by an equal amount of energy radiating into space. The energy escapes in the form of thermal infrared radiation: like the energy you feel radiating from a heat lamp. (NASA illustrations by Robert Simmon.)

The Sun heats Earth’s surface unevenly, driving global weather patterns that carry heat and humidity around the world. Differences in air pressure result in wind, causing air masses with different temperature and humidity to move. Clouds and powerful storms can form at a frontal boundary, where two air masses meet.

Heat is transferred to the surface of the Earth from the hot Earth’s core by conduction and from radiation from the Sun. The atmosphere is heated by absorption of some of the electromagnetic radiation from the Sun, and contact with the warm surface of the land and water.

Large global wind systems are created by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface. Warm air rises at the equator and moves toward the poles. At the poles, the cooler air sinks and moves back toward the equator.

Weather on Earth is caused by heat from the sun and movement of the air. All weather happens in the lower layer of Earth’s atmosphere, which is a layer of gases surrounding Earth. This movement of air is what we call wind. Winds bring changes in the weather, such as clear sunny skies or heavy rain.