ABSTRACT
Weather and climate are produced by the effects of heating and cooling of the surface of the Earth and the circulation of the atmosphere and oceans. This chapter is largely concerned with these circulations of wind and ocean currents as the ‘mechanism’ of climate. The items that together determine the climate of any place may be listed as:
1 The radiation balance-the balance between incoming energy originating in the sun and outgoing energy from the Earth. The gain and loss depend primarily on the latitude, but also on the aspect of the place (sloping towards north or south) and on the transparency of the atmosphere. Sunny southfacing slopes in northern lands enjoy the radiation climate of a lower latitude, and north-facing slopes the contrary, but as regards length of day both are governed by their actual latitude. Cloudiness, mist, haze and water vapour content as well as pollutants affect the atmosphere’s transparency and are selective as between the sun’s radiation and the long-wave radiation going out from the Earth.
