InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Science and Society > Student Materials > Module 2: Climatology of Water > Relative Humidity > Energy Balance
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Water Science and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.

Energy Balance

The differential heat input from solar radiation input and loss by infrared radiation is a critical part of maintaining equability (relatively low gradients in temperature from low to high latitudes) on the Earth. The energy balance figures indicate that above about 40 degrees North and South (e.g., the latitude of New York City) of the equator the loss of heat by radiation (infrared), on average, exceeds the input of heat from the sun (visible). What does that imply for our climate? One might think that this should result in permanent snow or ice above this latitude. Right? Indeed, during the last glacial epoch, about 21 thousand years ago, thick continental ice sheets extended to nearly 40 degrees North in North America (just north of I-80). But normally, because of the heat gradient created by the imbalance between solar input and infrared radiation, the atmosphere (and ocean) is set in motion to redistribute heat from low to high latitudes. Otherwise, the tropics would be excessively hot and the high latitudes excessively cold—at all times. Next, we will see how this circulation works.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »