The Sun’s Influence on Atmosphere and Oceans
Note-taking Guide
Directions: Complete the note-taking guide using the words in the word bank below. To enter your answers, click on the blanks and type.
weather hurricanes poles convection currents warming salt
global conveyor belt surface currents dense equator
Loop Current salinity climate heat cooling wind
The Sun is the main energy source on Earth. Approximately
50%
of the
solar energy hitting Earth is absorbed by land and oceans.
This absorbed energy changes into
which can be transferred to
the atmosphere. As the air in the atmosphere then gets heated, it becomes
less
and rises.
Cool, dense air from other places flows in to replace this warm air, which we
feel as
.
This cool air eventually heats and starts to rise again. This continual process
of air closest to Earth’s surface warming, rising, cooling, and then sinking
creates
in the atmosphere.
Atmospheric winds that blow over the ocean surface create
that carry water around the globe.
Unequal heating of the oceans and differences in
also
create currents.
The Sun warms water at the
more than it does at the
high latitude Polar regions.
At the
, some water freezes. The water that doesn’t freeze
contains more
, making it denser.
As this cold, dense water sinks, the warm water from the equator moves
toward the poles to replace it.
This constant movement creates a deep ocean current called the
.
The global conveyor belt transfers heat from one part of the world to the
other, thus affecting the
and
in all parts
of the world.
Surface and deep ocean currents continually transfer warm and cold waters
around the globe.
As these waters warm or cool the air above it, winds blow the air over land,
it up or
it down.
The
in the Gulf of Mexico is an ocean current
that creates a warm layer of water in the gulf. This results in the growth of
several
that affect the Gulf Coast.
