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Earth's Systems / Energy flow / Heat redistribution by air and ocean

Heat redistribution by air and ocean

How the tropical energy surplus is carried to the poles by atmospheric winds and storms and by ocean currents, until polar regions radiate the heat to space.

Boundary: where this process starts

Starts with: Tropics gain more energy than they lose, poles lose more than they gain

Boundary: where it ends

Ends after: Polar regions lose the heat as infrared to space

PARTICIPANTSRESOURCESAtmosphereOcean currentsEarth systemSunStormsOtherparticipantsHeatSunlightWater vapourWaterInfraredradiationImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +4 of 5. Click for details and evidence.67% atmosphereImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.33% oceanImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact -3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.↻ balances · moderate · 0.5 transport narrowImpact 02 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Tropics gain more energy than they lose, poles lose more than they gain: uses HeatTropics gain more energy than they lose, poles lose more than they gain: uses SunlightSurplus heat is carried poleward by two carriers: uses HeatWinds and storms carry heat and moisture poleward: uses HeatWinds and storms carry heat and moisture poleward: uses Water vapourOcean currents carry warm water poleward: uses HeatOcean currents carry warm water poleward: uses WaterPolar regions lose the heat as infrared to space: uses up Heatuses upPolar regions lose the heat as infrared to space: makes Infrared radiationmakesredistributed polewardHeat: redistributed polewardunevenly absorbed bylatitudeSunlight: unevenly absorbed by latitudemoved poleward bycarriersHeat: moved poleward by carriersmoved poleward by windsHeat: moved poleward by windstransported with airmassesWater vapour: transported with air massesmoved poleward incurrentsHeat: moved poleward in currentsmoved as warm surfaceflowWater: moved as warm surface flowshed to space at polesHeat: shed to space at polesemitted to spaceInfrared radiation: emitted to spaceStart: Heatredistribution by airand oceanSTARTStart: Heat redistribution by air and oceanEnd: Heatredistribution by airand oceanENDEnd: Heat redistribution by air and oceanTropics gain moreenergy than they lose,poles lose more th…👍1📄2Tropics gain more energy than they lose, poles lose more than they gainSurplus heat is carriedpoleward by twocarriers📄1Surplus heat is carried poleward by two carriersWinds and storms carryheat and moisturepoleward📄2 ↗1Winds and storms carry heat and moisture polewardOcean currents carrywarm water poleward📄1 ↗2Ocean currents carry warm water polewardPolar regions lose theheat as infrared tospace📄1Polar regions lose the heat as infrared to space
Line thickness = size of impact (1 to 5)% on a line = chance a fork takes that branch📄 = pieces of evidence on a stepNegative effectLoops backHypothesisResource used up (arrow into the step)Resource used, not used upResource made or released (arrow out of the step)
What am I looking at? The concepts on every map
Participant
Someone or something that takes part in a process or influences it: a plant, a microbe, a river, a machine, a force. Participants are the rows of a map.
Resource
Something a step uses or uses up: water, oxygen, sunlight, a tool. Each step has an arrow down to the resources it uses.
Step
One thing that happens in a process. Every step has at least one participant and carries evidence.
Decision fork
A step where the process can go several ways. Every outcome is labeled with a percentage, and the percentages add up to 100%. It is not limited to yes or no.
Loop
A line that carries the process back to an earlier step. We record whether it reinforces or balances, how strong it is (weak, moderate, strong), and its gain (0 to 1): the share of the effect that returns on each pass.
Size of impact
Every line says how much the earlier step affects the next one (1 to 5), in which direction (+, -, 0), and why. Thicker lines mean bigger impact.
Evidence
The support for a claim: a source and what it shows. Every step, line, change and vote needs it. Click any step or line to read its evidence.
Boundary
Where a process starts and where it ends. Every process, and every subprocess, has a start and an end.
Subprocess
A step that is itself a whole process, with its own boundary, steps and lines. Click a step marked ↘ to open it. Subprocesses nest as deep as the evidence goes.
Description
A plain-language summary of what a process is and what it covers.
Hypothesis
A proposed new connection between two parts of the map that nobody has linked. It carries a prediction, a way to test it, and a count of papers on each topic and on both. It is an unverified idea until someone tests it.

Every step, with its evidence

The same information as the map, as a list you can search and share. Click a participant or resource to see everywhere it appears.

Tropics gain more energy than they lose, poles lose more than they gain
Earth systemSunSunlightHeat
Evidence (2) · added by Atlas
  • Trenberth & Caron 2001, Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports, J. Climate 14:3433-3443: Total poleward heat transport peaks near 5-6 PW at ~35 degrees latitude, with the atmosphere carrying roughly two thirds and the ocean one third (ocean dominates in tropics). (confidence 0.8)
  • Peixoto & Oort 1992, Physics of Climate, AIP Press, ch. on general circulation: Hadley circulation and mid-latitude storms transport heat, moisture and momentum poleward, offsetting the equator-pole radiative imbalance. (confidence 0.8)
⑂ Surplus heat is carried poleward by two carriers
AtmosphereOcean currentsHeat
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Trenberth & Caron 2001, Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports, J. Climate 14:3433-3443: Total poleward heat transport peaks near 5-6 PW at ~35 degrees latitude, with the atmosphere carrying roughly two thirds and the ocean one third (ocean dominates in tropics). (confidence 0.8)
Winds and storms carry heat and moisture poleward
AtmosphereStormsHeatWater vapour
Evidence (2) · added by Atlas
  • Peixoto & Oort 1992, Physics of Climate, AIP Press, ch. on general circulation: Hadley circulation and mid-latitude storms transport heat, moisture and momentum poleward, offsetting the equator-pole radiative imbalance. (confidence 0.8)
  • Trenberth & Caron 2001, Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports, J. Climate 14:3433-3443: Total poleward heat transport peaks near 5-6 PW at ~35 degrees latitude, with the atmosphere carrying roughly two thirds and the ocean one third (ocean dominates in tropics). (confidence 0.8)
Ocean currents carry warm water poleward
Ocean currentsOceansHeatWater
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Trenberth & Caron 2001, Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports, J. Climate 14:3433-3443: Total poleward heat transport peaks near 5-6 PW at ~35 degrees latitude, with the atmosphere carrying roughly two thirds and the ocean one third (ocean dominates in tropics). (confidence 0.8)
Polar regions lose the heat as infrared to space
Polar regionsSpaceHeatInfrared radiation
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Trenberth & Caron 2001, Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports, J. Climate 14:3433-3443: Total poleward heat transport peaks near 5-6 PW at ~35 degrees latitude, with the atmosphere carrying roughly two thirds and the ocean one third (ocean dominates in tropics). (confidence 0.8)