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The ocean plays a key role in the water cycle as it is the source of 86% of global evaporation. [2] The water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which leads to temperature changes. When water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings and cools the environment. When it condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment.
Water vapor concentration for this gas mixture is 0.4%. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere, responsible for 70% of the known absorption of incoming sunlight, particularly in the infrared region, and about 60% of the atmospheric absorption of thermal radiation by the Earth known as the greenhouse effect. [25]
The runoff from the land flows into streams and rivers and discharges into the ocean, which completes the global cycle. [5] The water cycle is a key part of Earth's energy cycle through the evaporative cooling at the surface which provides latent heat to the atmosphere, as atmospheric systems play a primary role in moving heat upward. [5]
Climate change has disrupted that cycle’s delicate balance, upsetting how water circulates between the ground, oceans and atmosphere. The events of 2023 show how significant these disruptions ...
Water vapor absorbing these wavelengths of IR energy is mainly attributed to water being a polar molecule. Water's polarity allows it to absorb and release radiation at far, near and mid-infrared wavelengths. [6] The polarity also largely impacts how water interacts with nature, for it allows complexes of water, such as the water dimer. [6]
In frequency (and thus energy), UV rays sit between the violet end of the visible spectrum and the X-ray range. The UV wavelength spectrum ranges from 399 nm to 10 nm and is divided into 3 sections: UVA, UVB, and UVC. UV is the lowest energy range energetic enough to ionize atoms, separating electrons from them, and thus causing chemical reactions.
This is because shallow water waves are not dispersive. In deep water, the group velocity is equal to half the phase velocity: {{math|c g = 1 / 2 c p. [7] The group velocity also turns out to be the energy transport velocity. This is the velocity with which the mean wave energy is transported horizontally in a narrow-band wave field. [8 ...
Thus, any energy that enters a system but does not leave must be retained within the system. So, the amount of energy retained on Earth (in Earth's climate system) is governed by an equation: [change in Earth's energy] = [energy arriving] − [energy leaving]. Energy arrives in the form of absorbed solar radiation (ASR). Energy leaves as ...