Climate system
Climate System
The Climate System (pronounced: /ˈklaɪmɪt ˈsɪstəm/) is a complex, interactive system consisting of the Earth's atmosphere, land surface, snow and ice, oceans and other bodies of water, and living things. The climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal dynamics and due to changes in external factors that affect climate (called 'forcings').
Etymology
The term 'Climate System' is derived from the Greek word 'klima', meaning inclination, referring to the climate's inclination to change, and the Latin 'systema', meaning a whole compounded of several parts or members.
Components of the Climate System
The Climate System is divided into five major components:
1. Atmosphere: The gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth. Its lower layer, the troposphere, is where weather occurs.
2. Hydrosphere: The total amount of water on the Earth, including the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers, as well as all the ice in glaciers and polar ice caps.
3. Cryosphere: The component of the Earth system that includes all forms of frozen water, including snow, sea ice, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (permafrost).
4. Biosphere: The part of the Earth system comprising all ecosystems and living organisms, in the atmosphere, on land (terrestrial biosphere) or in the oceans (marine biosphere), including derived dead organic matter, such as litter, soil organic matter, and oceanic detritus.
5. Geosphere: The solid part of the Earth, including the crust, mantle, and core.
Related Terms
- Climate Change: A significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years.
- Global Warming: An increase in the Earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.
- Greenhouse Effect: The trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Climate system
- Wikipedia's article - Climate system
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