Source of heat (energy) in ocean-atmosphere system
Primary source is insolation = radiation from sun
Geothermal heat _ 1/5000th of energy reaching Earth from sun
Insolation - mix of wavelengths (l__) of EM radiation
- Corresponds to radiation from black-body with T _ 6000°C
- Maximum intensity of radiation has l _ 0.5 x 10-6 m = 5,000 Å, corresponding to visible red light
- Visible light + near infrared radiation + near ultraviolet radiation together account for more than 90% of energy from sun
Call this ‘short wave radiation’