Earth’s Climate System

Climate is the state factor that most strongly

governs the global distribution of terrestrial
A Focal Issue
biomes. This chapter provides a general back-
Human activities are modifying Earth’s
ground on the functioning of the climate sys-
climate, thereby changing fundamental con-
tem and its interactions with atmospheric
trols over ecosystem processes throughout the
chemistry, ocean, and land.
planet, often to the detriment of society. Some
climatic changes subtly alter the rates of ecosys-
tem process, but other changes, such as the fre-
Introduction quency of severe storms have direct devastating
effects on society. Climate warming, for example,
Climate exerts a key control over the function- increases sea-surface temperature, which increases
ing of Earth’s ecosystems. Temperature and the energy transferred to tropical storms (Fig. 2.1).
water availability govern the rates of many bio- Although no individual storm can be attributed to
logical and chemical reactions that in turn control climate change, the intensity of tropical storms
critical ecosystem processes. These processes may increase (IPCC 2007). Other expected effects
include the production of organic matter by plants, of climate change include more frequent droughts
its decomposition by microbes, the weathering of in drylands such as sub-Saharan Africa, more fre-
rocks, and the development of soils. Understanding quent floods in wet climates and in low-lying
the causes of temporal and spatial variation in cli- coastal zones, warmer weather in cold climates,
mate is therefore critical to understanding the and more extensive wildfires in fire-prone forests.
global pattern of ecosystem processes. What determines the distribution of Earth’s major
The amount of incoming solar radiation, the climate zones? Why is climate changing, and why
chemical composition and dynamics of the atmo- do regions differ in the climatic changes they
sphere, and the surface properties of Earth deter- experience? An understanding of the causes of
mine climate and climate variability. The temporal and spatial variation in the climate sys-
circulation of the atmosphere and ocean influ- tem facilitates predictions of the changes that are
ences the transfer of heat and moisture around the likely to occur in particular places.
planet and thus strongly influences climate pat-
terns and their variability in space and time. This
chapter describes the global energy budget and Earth’s Energy Budget
outlines the roles that the atmosphere, ocean, and
land surface play in the redistribution of energy The sun is the source of the energy available to
to produce observed patterns of climate and eco- drive Earth’s climate system. The wavelength
system distribution. of energy produced by a body depends on its

F.S. Chapin, III et al., Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology, 23

DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9504-9_2, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
24 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.1 Satellite view of Hurricane Katrina over coastal the hurricane. Climate warming is expected to increase
Louisiana. This tropical storm flooded New Orleans in the frequency of severe tropical storms like Hurricane
2005, killing approximately 1,570 people and causing Katrina. Image courtesy of NOAA ([Link]
$40–50 billion of damage. Human-caused ecological [Link]/satellite/[Link])
changes in coastal Louisiana contributed to the impact of

temperature. Because it is hot (6,000°C), the sun transmits about half of the incoming shortwave
emits most energy as high-energy shortwave radiation to Earth’s surface, radiatively active
radiation with wavelengths of 0.2–4.0 mm gases (water vapor, CO2, CH4, N2O and industrial
(Fig. 2.2). These include ultraviolet (UV; 8% of products like chlorofluorocarbons [CFCs]) absorb
the total), visible (39%), and near-infrared (53%) 90% of the outgoing longwave radiation
radiation. On average, about 30% of the incom- (Fig. 2.3). Of the approximately 10% of long-
ing shortwave radiation is reflected back to space, wave radiation that escapes to space, most is in
due to backscatter (reflection) from clouds wavelengths where longwave absorption by the
(16%); air molecules, dust, and haze (6%); and atmosphere is small (referred to as atmospheric
Earth’s surface (7%; Fig. 2.3). Another 23% of windows; Fig. 2.2). The energy absorbed by radi-
the incoming shortwave radiation is absorbed by atively active gases in the atmosphere is re-radi-
the atmosphere, especially by ozone in the upper ated in all directions (Fig. 2.3). The portion that is
atmosphere and by clouds and water vapor in the directed back toward the surface contributes to
lower atmosphere. The remaining 47% reaches the warming of the planet, a phenomenon known
Earth’s surface as direct or diffuse radiation and as the greenhouse effect. Without these long-
is absorbed there (Trenberth et al. 2009). wave-absorbing gases in the atmosphere, the
Earth also emits radiation, like all bodies, but, average temperature at Earth’s surface would be
due to its lower surface temperature (about 15°C), about 33°C lower than it is today, and Earth
Earth emits most energy as low-energy longwave would probably not support life, except perhaps
radiation (Fig. 2.2). Although the atmosphere at hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean.
Earth’s Energy Budget 25

longwave absorption by radiatively active gases

and by the absorption of some incoming (short-
Solar incoming radiation wave) solar radiation; it is also heated from the
Energy (W m−2)

surface by non-radiative fluxes of heat that are car-

ried upward by atmospheric turbulence (mixing).
These include latent heat flux, where heat that
evaporates water at the surface is subsequently
released to the atmosphere as air parcels rise and
cool, and the water vapor condenses, forming
clouds and precipitation. There is also an upward
transfer of heat that is conducted from the warm
Terrestrial outgoing radiation
surface to the air immediately above it and then
moved upward by convection of the atmosphere as
0 5 10 15 20 25
thermals (sensible heat flux). These heat sources
Near infrared collectively sustain the longwave emission to
Visible region space, as well as a large flux of longwave radiation
UV from the lower atmosphere back to Earth’s surface.
1 This back radiation to the surface represents the
CH4 natural greenhouse effect described earlier.
0
1 Long-term records of atmospheric gases,
N2 O
0 obtained from atmospheric measurements since
Absorptivity

1
O2 and O3 the 1950s and from air bubbles trapped in glacial
0
1 ice, show large increases in the major radiatively
CO2
0 active gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, and CFCs) since
1
H2 O the beginning of the industrial revolution 250
0
1 years ago (see Fig. 14.7). Human activities such
Atmosphere
0 as fossil fuel burning, industrial activities, animal
0 5 10 15 20 25 husbandry, and fertilized and irrigated agriculture
Wavelength (µm) contribute to these increases (see Chap. 14). As
concentrations of these gases rise, the atmosphere
Fig. 2.2 The spectral distribution of solar and terrestrial
radiation and the absorption spectra of the major radia- traps more of the longwave radiation emitted by
tively active gases and of the total atmosphere. These spec- Earth, enhancing the greenhouse effect and
tra show that the atmosphere absorbs a larger proportion of increasing Earth’s surface temperature. A small
terrestrial radiation than solar radiation, explaining why imbalance thus exists in the radiative flows shown
the atmosphere is heated from below. Redrawn from
Sturman and Tapper (1996) and Barry and Chorley (2003) in Fig. 2.3, estimated to be about 0.26% of the
incoming radiation. Most of this excess energy is
absorbed in the ocean, causing water to expand
As a global long-term average, Earth is and sea level to rise. The warming caused by
normally close to a state of radiative balance, radiative imbalance also contributes to wide-
meaning that it emits as much energy back to spread melting of glaciers and ice sheets
space (as longwave radiation) as it absorbs. (Greenland and Antarctica) and arctic sea ice.
However, human activities are changing the com- The globally averaged annual energy budget
position of the atmosphere enough to increase outlined above gives a sense of the critical factors
the heat retained by the planet, as described controlling the global climate system. Regional
later. Assuming balance, the longwave radiation climates, however, reflect spatial variation in
emitted to space must equal the sum of the energy exchange and in lateral heat transport by
solar radiation absorbed by both the surface and the atmosphere and the ocean. Earth is heated
the atmosphere. The atmosphere is heated by more strongly at the equator than at the poles and
26 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.3 The average annual global energy balance dur- and absorbed longwave radiation (104 units) and
ing 2000–2004 for the Earth-atmosphere system. The latent + sensible heat flux (29 units) are balanced by long-
numbers are percentages of the energy received from wave emission to space (58 units) and longwave emission
incoming solar radiation. At the top of the atmosphere, the to Earth’s surface (98 units). At Earth’s surface, the incom-
incoming solar radiation (100 units or 341 W m−2 [global ing shortwave (47 units) and incoming longwave radiation
average]) is balanced by reflected shortwave (30 units) (98 units) are balanced by outgoing longwave radiation
and emitted longwave radiation (70 units). Within the (116 units) and latent + sensible heat flux (29 units). Data
atmosphere, the absorbed shortwave radiation (23 units) are from Trenberth et al. (2009)

rotates on an axis that is tilted relative to the plane

of its orbit around the sun. Its continents are The Atmospheric System
spread unevenly over the surface, and its atmo-
spheric and oceanic chemistry and physics are Atmospheric Composition
dynamic and spatially variable. A more thorough and Chemistry
understanding of the atmosphere and ocean is
therefore needed to understand the fate and pro- The chemical composition of the atmosphere
cessing of energy and its consequences for Earth’s determines its role in Earth’s energy budget.
ecosystems. The atmosphere is like a giant reaction flask,
The Atmospheric System 27

Table 2.1 Major chemical constituents of the atmosphere CH4 and N2O that undergo irreversible reactions
Compound Formula Concentration (%) to produce breakdown products. CO2, however, is
Nitrogen N2 78.082 not “destroyed” when it is absorbed by the ocean
Oxygen O2 20.945 or the biosphere, but continues to exchange with
Argon Ar 0.934 the atmosphere. If all fossil fuel emissions ceased
Carbon dioxide CO2 0.039 instantly today, the excess fossil-fuel CO2 in the
Data from Schlesinger (1997) and IPCC (2007) atmosphere (about 35% higher than the “natural”
background) would decline by 50% within 30
years, another 20% within a few centuries, but the
containing thousands of different chemical remaining 30% excess CO2 would remain in the
compounds in gas and particulate forms, under- atmosphere for thousands of years (IPCC 2007;
going slow and fast reactions, dissolutions, and Archer et al. 2009; see Chap. 14). This will create,
precipitations. These reactions control the com- from the perspective of a human lifetime, a per-
position of the atmosphere and many of its physi- manently warmer world (Solomon et al. 2009).
cal processes, such as cloud formation and energy The magnitude of this climate warming will
absorption. The associated heating and cooling, depend on the rates at which people reduce their
together with the uneven distribution of solar emissions of fossil fuels and other trace gases.
radiation, generate dynamical motions crucial for Some atmospheric gases are critical for life.
energy redistribution. Photosynthetic organisms use CO2 in the pres-
More than 99.9% by volume of Earth’s dry ence of light to produce organic matter that even-
atmosphere is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, tually becomes the basic food source for almost
and argon (Table 2.1). Carbon dioxide (CO2), the all animals and microbes (see Chaps. 5–7). Most
next most abundant gas, accounts for only 0.039% organisms also require oxygen for metabolic res-
of the atmosphere. These percentages are quite piration. Di-nitrogen (N2) makes up 78% of the
constant around the world and up to 80 km in atmosphere. It is unavailable to most organisms,
height above the surface. That homogeneity but nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert it to biologi-
reflects the fact that these gases have long mean cally available nitrogen that is ultimately used by
residence times (MRT) in the atmosphere. MRT all organisms to build proteins (see Chap. 9).
is calculated as the total mass divided by the flux Other gases, such as carbon monoxide (CO),
into or out of the atmosphere over a given time nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane
period. Nitrogen has an MRT of 13 million years, (CH4), and volatile organic carbon compounds
O2 10,000 years, and CO2 5 years (see Chap. 14). like terpenes and isoprene, are the products of
Some of the most important radiatively active plant and microbial activity. Some, like tropo-
gases, such as CO2, nitrous oxide (N2O), methane spheric ozone (O3), are produced chemically in
(CH4), and CFCs, react relatively slowly in the the atmosphere as products of chemical reactions
atmosphere and have residence times of years to involving both biogenic (biologically produced)
decades. Other gases are much more reactive and and anthropogenic gases, and can, at high con-
have residence times of days to months. Highly centrations, damage plants, microbes, and
reactive gases make up less than 0.001% of the people.
dry volume of the atmosphere and are quite vari- The atmosphere also contains aerosols, which
able in time and space. These reactive gases influ- are small solid or liquid particles suspended in air.
ence ecological systems through their roles in Some aerosol particles arise from volcanic erup-
nutrient delivery, smog, acid rain, and ozone tions and from blowing dust and sea salt. Others
depletion (Graedel and Crutzen 1995). Water are produced by reactions with gases from pollu-
vapor is also quite reactive and highly variable tion sources and biomass burning. Some aerosols
both seasonally and spatially. act as cloud condensation nuclei around which
MRT provides a reasonable estimate of the life- water vapor condenses to form cloud droplets.
time of a gas in the atmosphere for those gases like Aerosols, together with gases and clouds and
28 2 Earth’s Climate System

characteristics of the surface, determine the

110
reflectivity (albedo) of the planet and therefore
exert major control over the energy budget and 100 Thermosphere
hence climate. The scattering (reflection) of
incoming shortwave radiation by some aerosols 90
reduces the radiation reaching Earth’s surface and
80 Mesopause
tends to cool the climate. For example, the sulfur
dioxide injected into the atmosphere by the volca-
70
nic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in

Height (km)
1991 and the subsequent creation of sulfate aero- Mesosphere
60
sols cooled Earth’s climate for about a year.
Clouds have complex effects on Earth’s radia- 50
Stratopause
tion budget. All clouds have a high albedo, and
40
hence reflect much more incoming shortwave
radiation than does the darker Earth surface. 30 Stratosphere
Clouds, however, are composed of water droplets
and ice crystals, which are very efficient absorb- 20
ers of longwave radiation impinging on them Tropopause
10 Mt. Everest
from Earth’s surface. The first process (reflecting
Troposphere
shortwave radiation) has a cooling effect by
reflecting incoming energy back to space. The −90 −60 −30 0 30
second effect (absorbing longwave radiation) has o
Temperature ( C)
a warming effect, by preventing energy from
Fig. 2.4 Average thermal structure of the atmosphere,
escaping to space. The balance of these two showing the vertical gradients in temperature in Earth’s
effects depends on many factors, including cloud major atmospheric layers. Redrawn from Schlesinger
type, temperature, thickness, and height. The (1997)
reflection of shortwave radiation usually domi-
nates the balance in high clouds, causing cooling,
whereas the absorption and re-emission of long- with height, as does the density of air. As one
wave radiation generally dominates in low clouds, moves above the surface toward lower pressure
producing a warming effect. While clouds have a and density, the vertical pressure gradient also
net cooling effect globally by reducing solar decreases. Furthermore, because warm air is less
input, they have a net warming effect in the Arctic dense than cold air, pressure falls off with height
and Antarctic, where heat loss predominates. more slowly for warm than for cold air.
The troposphere is the lowest atmospheric
layer (Fig. 2.4). It contains 75% of the mass of
Atmospheric Structure the atmosphere and is heated primarily from the
bottom by sensible and latent heat fluxes and by
Atmospheric pressure and density decline longwave radiation from Earth’s surface. Because
with height above Earth’s surface. The average air heated at the surface cools as it rises and
vertical structure of the atmosphere defines four expands, temperature decreases with height in
relatively distinct layers characterized by their the troposphere.
temperature profiles. The atmosphere is highly Above the troposphere is the stratosphere,
compressible, and gravity keeps most of the mass which, unlike the troposphere, is heated from the
of the atmosphere close to Earth’s surface. top, resulting in an increase in temperature with
Pressure, which is related to the mass of the height (Fig. 2.4). Absorption of UV radiation by
overlying atmosphere, decreases logarithmically ozone (O3) in the upper stratosphere warms the air.
The Atmospheric System 29

Fig. 2.5 Growth in height

of the planetary boundary
layer (PBL) above the plant
canopy between 6 a.m. and 1.5

Planetary boundary layer

noon in the Amazon Basin
on a day without thunder- Previous day's New cloud
storms. The increase in

height (km)
1.0 cloud layer layer
surface temperature drives
evapotranspiration and
convective mixing, which 0.5
causes the boundary layer to
increase in height until the
rising air becomes cool 0
enough that water vapor
0600 0800 1000 1200
condenses to form clouds. Local time
Redrawn from Matson and
Harriss (1988)

Ozone is most concentrated in the upper strato- again causing an increase in heating with height
sphere due to a balance between the availability of (Fig. 2.4). The mesosphere and thermosphere
shortwave UV necessary to split molecules of O2 have relatively little impact on the biosphere.
into atomic O and a high enough density of mole- The troposphere is the atmospheric layer
cules to bring about the required collisions between where most weather occurs, including thunder-
atomic O and molecular O2 to form O3. The ozone storms, snowstorms, hurricanes, and high and
layer protects the biota at Earth’s surface from UV low pressure systems. The troposphere is there-
radiation. Biological systems are very sensitive to fore the portion of the atmosphere that directly
UV radiation because it damages DNA, which responds to and affects ecosystem processes. The
contains the information needed to drive cellular tropopause is the boundary between the tropo-
processes. The concentration of ozone in the sphere and the stratosphere. It occurs at a height
stratosphere has been declining due to the produc- of about 16 km in the tropics, where tropospheric
tion and emission of chlorofluorocarbon chemi- temperatures are highest and hence where pres-
cals (CFCs) that destroy stratospheric ozone, sure falls off most slowly with height, and at
particularly at the poles. This results in ozone about 9 km in polar regions, where tropospheric
“holes,” regions where the transmission of UV temperatures are lowest. The height of the tropo-
radiation to Earth’s surface is increased. Because pause varies seasonally, being lower in winter
the south polar region is colder and has more than in summer.
stratospheric clouds in which ozone-destroying The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is the
reactions occur, the ozone hole over Antarctica is lower portion of the troposphere in which air is
much larger than its arctic counterpart. Slow mix- mixed by surface heating, which creates convec-
ing between the troposphere and the stratosphere tive turbulence, and by mechanical turbulence as
allows CFCs and other compounds to reach and air moves across Earth’s rough surface. The PBL
accumulate in the ozone-rich stratosphere, where increases in height during the day largely due to
they have long residence times. convective turbulence. The PBL mixes more rap-
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere, idly with the free troposphere when the atmo-
where temperature again decreases with height. sphere is disturbed by storms. The boundary layer
The uppermost layer of the atmosphere, the ther- over the Amazon Basin, for example, generally
mosphere, begins at approximately 80 km and grows in height until midday, when it is disrupted
extends into space. The thermosphere has a very by convective activity (Fig. 2.5). The PBL
small fraction of the atmosphere’s total mass, becomes shallower at night when there is no solar
composed primarily of O and N atoms that can energy to drive convective mixing. Air in the PBL
absorb energy of extremely short wavelengths, is relatively isolated from the free troposphere
30 2 Earth’s Climate System

and therefore functions like a chamber over Cooling causes condensation and precipitation
Earth’s surface. The changes in water vapor, CO2, because cool air has a lower capacity to hold
and other chemical constituents in the PBL there- water vapor than warm air. Condensation, in turn,
fore serve as an indicator of the biological and releases latent heat, which can cause the rising air
physiochemical processes occurring at the sur- to remain warmer than surrounding air, so it con-
face (Matson and Harriss 1988). The PBL in tinues to rise. The average lapse rate (the rate at
urban regions, for example, often has higher con- which air temperature decreases with height) var-
centrations of pollutants than the cleaner, more ies regionally depending on the strength of sur-
stable air above. At night, gases emitted by the face heating and the atmospheric moisture content
surface, such as CO2 in natural ecosystems or but averages about 6.5°C km−1.
pollutants in urban environments, often reach Surface air rises most strongly at the equator
high concentrations because they are concen- because of the intense equatorial heating and the
trated in a shallow boundary layer. large amount of latent heat released as this moist
tropical air rises, expands, cools, and releases heat
by condensation of water vapor. This air often
Atmospheric Circulation rises until it reaches the tropopause. The upward
movement and expansion of equatorial air also
The fundamental cause of atmospheric circu- creates a horizontal pressure gradient that causes
lation is the uneven solar heating of Earth’s the equatorial air aloft to flow horizontally from
surface. The equator receives more incoming the equator toward the poles (Fig. 2.8). This pole-
solar radiation than the poles because Earth is ward-moving air cools because of both emission
spherical. At the equator, the sun’s rays are almost of longwave radiation to space and mixing with
perpendicular to the surface at solar noon. At the cold air that moves toward the equator from the
lower sun angles characteristic of high latitudes, poles. In addition, the tropical air converges into a
the sun’s rays are spread over a larger surface smaller volume as it moves poleward because the
area (Fig. 2.6), resulting in less radiation received radius and surface area of Earth decrease from the
per unit ground area. In addition, the sun’s rays equator toward the poles. Due to the cooling of
have a longer path through the atmosphere at the air and its convergence into a smaller volume,
high latitudes, so more of the incoming solar the density of air increases, creating a high pres-
radiation is absorbed, reflected, or scattered sure that causes upper air to subside and warm.
before it reaches the surface. This unequal heat- Subtropical high-pressure zones typically have
ing of Earth results in higher tropospheric tem- clear skies; the resulting high input of solar radia-
peratures in the tropics than at the poles, which in tion drives abundant evaporation. This moist sub-
turn drives atmospheric circulation and transports tropical surface air moves back toward the equator
atmospheric heat toward the poles. As a conse- to replace the rising equatorial air. Hadley pro-
quence of this, the input of shortwave solar radia- posed this model of atmospheric circulation in
tion exceeds longwave radiation loss to space in 1735, suggesting that there should be one large
the tropics, whereas longwave radiation loss circulation cell in the northern hemisphere and
exceeds solar input at temperate and high lati- another in the southern hemisphere, driven by
tudes (Fig. 2.7). atmospheric heating and uplift at the equator and
Atmospheric circulation has both vertical and subsidence at the poles. Based on observations,
horizontal components (Fig. 2.8). Surface heat- Ferrell proposed in 1865 the conceptual model
ing causes the surface air to expand and become that we still use today, although the actual dynam-
less dense than surrounding air, so it rises. As air ics are much more complex (Trenberth and
rises, the decrease in atmospheric pressure with Stepaniak 2003). This model describes atmo-
height causes continued expansion, which spheric circulation as a series of three circulation
decreases the average kinetic energy of air mole- cells in each hemisphere. (1) The Hadley cell
cules, meaning that the rising air becomes cooler. is driven by expansion and uplift of equatorial
The Atmospheric System 31

Axis

e
er
ph

Sun
Atmos

ato r (not to scale)

Equ
Earth

Fig. 2.6 Atmospheric and angle effects on solar inputs to is distributed. High-latitude ecosystems receive less radia-
different latitudes. The arrows parallel to the sun’s rays tion than those at the equator because radiation at high
show the depth of the atmosphere that solar radiation must latitudes has a longer path length through the atmosphere
penetrate. The arrows parallel to Earth’s surface show the and is spread over a larger ground area
surface area over which a given quantity of solar radiation

80
Radiation
60
gain
N
Radiation
Latitude (o)

20
Equator loss
0
20
S
60
80
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5

Radiation (PW degree−1)

80
60 Total
Ocean
N Atm
Latitude (o)

20
0
Equator

20
S
60
80

−6.0 −3.0 0.0 3.0 6.0

Latitudinal energy transport (PW)
Fig. 2.7 Latitudinal variation in heat input and loss to Earth (top; units PW [1015 W] per degree of latitude) and in latitudi-
nal heat transport by the ocean and the atmosphere (bottom; units PW). Redrawn from Fasullo and Trenberth (2008)
32 2 Earth’s Climate System

Cold subsiding air

cell Warm rising air

Polar

l
60o

el
lc
el
Polar front

rr
Westerlies
Fe
Cold subsiding air
o
30
cell

Subtro re
pical high pressu
ley

NE tradewinds
Had

Warm
0o rising
ITCZ
air
SE tradewinds
Ha

opical high pressur

dl

Subtr e
ey
cel
l

Westerlies 30o
Cold subsiding air

Polar front
Fe
rre
ll c

60o
el
l

Pola
r ce Warm rising air
ll
Cold subsiding air

Fig. 2.8 Earth’s latitudinal atmospheric circulation is air at about 60°N and S. Here the air rises and moves
driven by rising air at the equator and subsiding air at the either poleward to replace air that has subsided at the
poles. These forces and the Coriolis effect produce three poles (the polar cell) or moves toward the equator to form
major cells of vertical atmospheric circulation (the the Ferrell cell. Also shown are the horizontal patterns of
Hadley, Ferrell, and polar cells). Air warms and rises at atmospheric circulation consisting of the prevailing sur-
the equator due to intense heating. After reaching the face winds (the easterly trade winds in the tropics and the
tropopause, the equatorial air moves poleward to about westerlies in the temperate zones). The boundaries
30°N and S latitudes, where it descends and either returns between these zones are either low-pressure zones of ris-
to the equator, forming the Hadley cell, or moves pole- ing air (the ITCZ and the polar front) or high-pressure
ward. Cold dense air at the poles subsides and moves zones of subsiding air (the subtropical high-pressure belt
toward the equator until it encounters poleward-moving and the poles)

air and subsidence of cool dense subtropical air. 30° and 60°N and S, and polar air masses between
(2) The polar cell is driven by subsidence of cold 60°N and S and the poles (Fig. 2.8).
converging air at the poles. (3) An intermediate Earth’s rotation causes winds to deflect to
Ferrell cell is driven indirectly by dynamical pro- the right in the northern hemisphere and to the
cesses (Fig. 2.8). The Ferrell cell is actually the left in the southern hemisphere. Earth and its
long-term average air movement of mid-latitude atmosphere complete one rotation about Earth’s
weather systems rather than a stable permanent axis every day. The direction of rotation is from
atmospheric feature. The circular motion (eddies) west to east. Because the atmosphere in equatorial
of these mid-latitude weather systems produces a regions is further from Earth’s axis of rotation
net poleward transport of heat. These three cells than is the atmosphere at higher latitudes, it has a
subdivide the atmosphere into several distinct cir- higher linear velocity than does polar air as it trav-
culations: tropical air masses between the equator els around Earth. As parcels of air move north
and 30°N and S, temperate air masses between or south, they tend to maintain their angular
The Atmospheric System 33

momentum (Ma), just as a car tends to maintain The interaction of vertical and horizontal
its momentum, when you try to stop or turn on an motions of the atmosphere creates Earth’s pre-
icy road. This effect is summarized in the vailing winds, i.e., the most frequent wind direc-
equation: tions. The direction of prevailing winds depends
on whether air is moving toward or away from
M a = mvr (2.1) the equator. In the tropics, surface air in the
Hadley cell moves from 30°N and S toward the
where m is the mass, v is the velocity, and r is the equator, and the Coriolis effect causes these
radius of rotation. If the mass of a parcel of air winds to blow from the east, forming easterly
remains constant, its velocity is inversely related tradewinds (Fig. 2.8). The region where surface
to the radius of rotation (2.1). We know, for air from northern and southern hemispheres con-
example, that a skater can increase her speed of verges is called the Intertropical Convergence
rotation by pulling her arms close to her body, Zone (ITCZ). Here the rising air creates a zone
which reduces her effective radius. Air that with light winds and high humidity, known to
moves from the equator toward the poles encoun- early sailors as the doldrums. Subsiding air at
ters a smaller radius of rotation around Earth’s 30°N and S latitudes also produces relatively
axis. Therefore, to conserve angular momentum, light winds, known as the horse latitudes. The
it moves more rapidly (i.e., moves from west to surface air that moves poleward from 30° to 60°N
east relative to Earth’s surface), as it moves and S is deflected toward the east by the Coriolis
poleward (Fig. 2.8). Conversely, air moving effect, forming the prevailing westerlies, i.e.,
toward the equator encounters an increasing surface winds that blow from the west.
radius of rotation around Earth’s axis and, to At the boundaries between the major cells of
conserve angular momentum, moves more atmospheric circulation, relatively sharp gradients
slowly (i.e., moves from east to west relative to of temperature and pressure, together with the
Earth’s surface). There is another effect at work. Coriolis effect, generate strong winds over a broad
Air parcels moving eastward relative to the sur- height range in the upper troposphere. These are
face are subjected to a larger centrifugal force the subtropical and polar jet streams. The Coriolis
than parcels at rest with respect to the surface. effect explains why these winds blow in a west-
While this extra centrifugal force acts outward erly direction, i.e., from west to east.
from the axis of Earth’s rotation, the fact that The locations of the ITCZ and of each circula-
Earth’s surface is curved means that a compo- tion cell shifts seasonally because the zone of
nent of this centrifugal force is directed toward maximum solar radiation input varies from sum-
the equator. The opposite effect occurs if the air mer to winter due to Earth’s 23.5° tilt with respect
is moving east to west relative to the surface. to the plane of its orbit around the sun. The sea-
Conservation of angular momentum and the cen- sonal changes in the location of these cells con-
trifugal force represent the two components of tribute to the seasonality of climate.
the Coriolis effect that work together to deflect The uneven distribution of land and the
moving air parcels to the right in the northern ocean on Earth’s surface creates an uneven
hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemi- pattern of heating that modifies the general
sphere. The Coriolis effect is a “pseudo force” latitudinal trends in climate. At 30°N and S, air
that arises only because we view the motion descends more strongly over the cool ocean than
of the atmosphere relative to Earth’s rotating over the relatively warm land because the air is
surface. The Coriolis effect explains why mid- cooler and more dense over the ocean than over
latitude storms rotate clockwise (counterclock- the land. The greater subsidence over the ocean
wise) in the northern (southern) hemisphere. creates high-pressure zones over the Atlantic and
The Coriolis effect also explains the rotation of Pacific (the Bermuda and Pacific highs, respec-
the Hadley cells (Fig. 2.8). tively) and over the Southern Ocean (Fig. 2.9).
34 2 Earth’s Climate System

a 90 180 90 0 90
January

Icelandic
Siberian low
60 L 60
high
H H
Aleutian L H
low
Bermuda
30 Pacific H H 30
high
high
0 ITCZ L 0
L L
30 H 30
H
H
H

60 60
Latitude

90 Longitude 180 90 0 90

b 90 July 180 90 0 90

Icelandic
low
L
60 60
Siberian Bermuda
Pacific
low high
L high
H L
30 H L 30
ITC Thermal
0 Z 0
low

30 H
H H 30
H

60 60
Latitude

90 Longitude 180 90 0 90

Fig. 2.9 Average surface wind-flow patterns and the distribution of low (L)- and high (H)-pressure centers for January
(top) and July (bottom). Redrawn from Ahrens (1998)

At 60°N, rising air generates semi-permanent there is little land at 60°S, leading to a broad
low-pressure zones over Iceland and the Aleutian trough of low pressure, rather than distinct cen-
Islands (the Icelandic and Aleutian lows, respec- ters. Air that subsides in high pressure centers
tively). These lows are actually time averages of spirals outward in a clockwise direction in the
mid-latitude storm tracks, rather than stable fea- northern hemisphere and in a counter-clockwise
tures of the circulation. In the southern hemisphere, direction in the southern hemisphere due to an
The Ocean 35

interaction between friction, Coriolis forces, and continents at 50–60°N and S, where the temperate
the pressure gradient force produced by the rainforests of the world occur (the northwestern
subsiding air. Winds spiral inward toward low- U.S. and southwestern Chile, for example;
pressure centers in a counter-clockwise direction Fig. 2.9). The subtropical high pressure centers at
in the northern hemisphere and in a clockwise 30°N and S cause cool polar air to move toward
direction in the southern hemisphere. Air in the the equator on the west coasts of continents, cre-
low-pressure centers rises in balance with the ating dry Mediterranean climates near 30°N and
subsiding air in high-pressure centers. The long- S. On the east coasts of continents, subtropical
term average of these vertical and horizontal highs cause warm moist equatorial air to move
motions produces the vertical circulation northward at 30°N and S, creating a moist sub-
described by the Ferrell cell (Fig. 2.8) and a hori- tropical climate.
zontal pattern of high- and low-pressure centers
commonly observed on weather charts (Fig. 2.9).
These deviations from the expected easterly or The Ocean
westerly direction of prevailing winds are orga-
nized on a planetary scale and are known as plan- Ocean Structure
etary waves. These waves are most pronounced
in the northern hemisphere, where there is more Like the atmosphere, the ocean maintains
land. They are influenced by the Coriolis effect, rather stable layers with limited vertical mix-
land–ocean heating contrasts, and the locations ing between them. The sun heats the ocean from
of large mountain ranges, such as the Rocky the top, whereas the atmosphere is heated from
Mountains and Himalayas. These mountain bar- the bottom. Because warm water is less dense
riers force the northern hemisphere westerlies than cold water, the ocean maintains rather stable
vertically upward and to the north. Downwind of layers that do not easily mix. The uppermost
the mountains, air descends and moves to the warm layer of surface water, which interacts
south forming a trough, much like the standing directly with the atmosphere, extends to depths
waves in the rapids of a fast-moving river that are of 75–200 m, depending on the depth of wind-
governed by the location of rocks in the riverbed. driven mixing. Most primary production and
Temperatures are comparatively low in the decomposition occur in the surface waters (see
troughs, due to the southward movement of polar Chaps. 5–7). Another major difference between
air, and comparatively high in the ridges. The atmospheric and oceanic circulation is that den-
trough over eastern North America downwind of sity of ocean waters is determined by both tem-
the Rocky Mountains (Fig. 2.9), for example, perature and salinity, so, unlike warm air, warm
results in relatively cool temperatures and a more water can sink, if it is salty enough.
southerly location of the arctic tree line in eastern Relatively sharp gradients in temperature
than in western North America. Although plane- (thermocline) and salinity (halocline) occur
tary waves have preferred locations, they are not between warm surface waters of the ocean and
static. Changes in their location or in the number cooler more saline waters at intermediate depths
of waves alter regional patterns of climate. These (200–1,000 m; Fig. 2.10). These two vertical gra-
step changes in circulation pattern are referred to dients create a gradient in water density (pycno-
as shifts in climate modes. cline) that generates a relatively stable vertical
Planetary waves and the distribution of major stratification of low-density surface water above
high- and low-pressure centers explain many denser deep water. The deep layer therefore mixes
details of horizontal motion in the atmosphere with the surface waters very slowly over hun-
and therefore the patterns of ecosystem distribu- dreds to thousands of years. These deeper layers
tion. The locations of major high- and low- nonetheless play critical roles in element cycling,
pressure centers, for example, explain the productivity, and climate because they are long-
movement of mild moist air to the west coasts of term sinks for carbon and the sources of nutrients
36 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.10 Typical vertical Temperature (C)

profiles of ocean tempera-
0 5 10 15
ture and salinity. The
0

Surface
thermocline and halocline

water
(T/H) are the zones where
T/H
temperature and salinity,
respectively, decline most 250
strongly with depth. These
transition zones usually

Depth (m)
coincide approximately

Salinity
Temperature

Intermediate
500

water
750

1000
32 33 34 35 36
Salinity (ppt)

that drive ocean production (see Chaps. 5–9). tropical water to higher latitudes. On their way
Upwelling areas, where nutrient-rich deep waters poleward, currents are deflected by the Coriolis
move rapidly to the surface, support high levels effect. Once the water reaches the high latitudes,
of primary and secondary productivity (marine some returns in surface currents toward the trop-
invertebrates and vertebrates) and are the loca- ics along the eastern edges of ocean basins
tions of many of the world’s major fisheries. (Fig. 2.11), and some continues poleward.
Deep-ocean waters show a circulation pattern
quite different from the wind-driven surface cir-
Ocean Circulation culation. In the polar regions, especially in the
winter off southern Greenland and off Antarctica,
Ocean circulation plays a critical role in cold air cools the surface waters, increasing their
Earth’s climate system. The ocean and atmo- density. Formation of sea ice, which excludes salt
sphere are about equally important in latitudinal from ice crystals (brine rejection), increases the
heat transport in the tropics, but the atmosphere salinity of surface waters, also increasing their
accounts for most latitudinal heat transport at density. The high density of these cold saline
mid- and high latitudes (Fig. 2.7). The surface waters causes them to sink. This downwelling to
currents of the ocean are driven by surface winds form the North Atlantic Deep Water off of
and therefore show global patterns (Fig. 2.11) Greenland, and the Antarctic Bottom Water off of
that are generally similar to those of the prevail- Antarctica drives the global thermohaline cir-
ing surface winds (Fig. 2.9). The ocean currents culation in the mid and deep ocean that ulti-
are, however, deflected 20–40° relative to the mately transfers water among the major ocean
wind direction by the Coriolis effect. This deflec- basins (Fig. 2.12). The descent of cold dense
tion and the edges of continents cause ocean cur- water at high latitudes is balanced by the upwell-
rents to be more circular (termed gyres) than the ing of deep water on the eastern margins of ocean
winds that drive them. In equatorial regions, cur- basins at lower latitudes, where along-shore
rents flow east to west, driven by the easterly surface currents are deflected offshore by the
trade winds, until they reach the continents, Coriolis effect and easterly trade winds. There is
where they split and flow poleward along the a net transfer of North Atlantic Deep Water to
western boundaries of the ocean, carrying warm other ocean basins, particularly the eastern Pacific
The Ocean 37

90 180 90 0 90

ift
Dr
ic
nt
la
60 60

At
r th
No
N. Pacific Drift

eam
30 lf St r 30
Kuroshio Gu
C.
0 0

.
Benguela C
30 30

.
oldt C
mb
West Wind Drift

Hu
60 60
Latitude

90 Longitude 180 90 0 90

Fig. 2.11 Major surface ocean currents. Warm currents (C) are shown by solid arrows and cold currents by dashed
arrows. Redrawn from Ahrens (1998)

Warm shallow
current
Cold salty
deep current

Fig. 2.12 Circulation patterns of deep and surface waters among the major ocean basins

and Indian Oceans, where old phosphorus-rich The ocean, with its high heat capacity, heats
waters emerge at the surface. Net poleward up and cools down much more slowly than does
movement of warm surface waters balances the the land and therefore has a moderating influence
movement of cold deep water toward the equator. on the climate of adjacent land. Wintertime tem-
Changes in the strength of the thermohaline cir- peratures in Great Britain and Western Europe,
culation can have significant effects on climate for example, are much milder than at similar lati-
because of its control over latitudinal heat trans- tudes on the east coast of North America due to
port. In addition, the thermohaline circulation the warm North Atlantic drift (the poleward
transfers carbon to depth, where it remains for extension of the Gulf Stream; Fig. 2.11).
centuries (see Chap. 14). Conversely, cold upwelling currents or currents
38 2 Earth’s Climate System

moving toward the equator from the poles cool the land increases the height at which a given
adjacent landmasses in summer. The cold pressure occurs, causing this upper air to move
California current, for example, which runs north from land toward the ocean, if the large-scale pre-
to south along the west coast of the U.S., keeps vailing winds are weak. The resulting increase in
summer temperatures in Northern California the mass of atmosphere over the ocean raises the
lower than at similar latitudes along the east coast surface pressure, which causes surface air to flow
of the U.S. These temperature differences play from the ocean toward the land. The resulting cir-
critical roles in determining the distribution of culation cell is similar in principle to that which
different kinds of ecosystems across the globe. occurs in the Hadley cell (Fig. 2.8) or Asian mon-
soons (Fig. 2.13). At night, when the ocean is
warmer than the land, air rises over the ocean,
Landform Effects on Climate and the surface breeze blows from the land to the
ocean, reversing the circulation cell. The net
The spatial distribution of land, water, and effect of sea breezes is to reduce temperature
mountains modify the general latitudinal extremes and increase precipitation on land near
trends in climate. The greater heat capacity of the ocean or large lakes.
the ocean has short-term regional as well as long- Mountain ranges affect local atmospheric
term global consequences. The ocean warms circulation and climate through several types of
more slowly than land during the day and in sum- orographic effects, which are effects due to the
mer and cools more slowly than land at night and presence of mountains. As winds carry air up the
in winter, influencing atmospheric circulation at windward sides of mountains, the air cools, and
local to continental scales. The seasonal reversal water vapor condenses and precipitates. Therefore,
of winds (monsoons) in eastern Asia, for exam- the windward side tends to be cold and wet.
ple, is driven largely by the temperature differ- When the air moves down the leeward side of the
ence between the land and the adjacent seas. mountain, it expands and warms, increasing its
During the northern-hemisphere winter, the land capacity to absorb and retain water. This creates a
is colder than the ocean, giving rise to cold dense rain shadow, i.e., a zone of low precipitation
continental air that flows southward from Siberian downwind of the mountains. The rain shadow
high-pressure centers across India to the ocean of the Rocky Mountains extends 1,500 km to
(Figs. 2.9 and 2.13). In summer, however, the the east, resulting in a strong west-to-east gradi-
land heats relative to the ocean, forcing the air to ent in annual precipitation from eastern Colorado
rise, in turn drawing in moist surface air from the (300 mm) to Illinois (1,000 mm; see Fig. 13.3;
ocean. Condensation of water vapor in the rising Burke et al. 1989). Deserts or desert grasslands
moist air produces large amounts of precipita- (steppes) are often found immediately downwind
tion. Northward migration of the trade winds in of the major mountain ranges of the world.
summer enhances onshore flow of air, and the Mountain systems can also influence climate by
mountainous topography of northern India channeling winds through valleys. The Santa Ana
enhances vertical motion, increasing the propor- winds of Southern California occur when high
tion of water vapor that is converted to precipita- pressure over the interior deserts funnels warm
tion. Together, these seasonal changes in winds dry winds through valleys toward the Pacific
give rise to predictable seasonal patterns of tem- coast, creating dry windy conditions that promote
perature and precipitation that strongly influence intense wildfires.
the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Sloping terrain creates unique patterns of
At scales of a few kilometers, the differential microclimate at scales ranging from anthills to
heating between land and ocean produces land mountain ranges. Slopes facing toward the equator
and sea breezes. During the day, strong heating (south-facing slopes in the northern hemisphere
over land causes air to rise, drawing in cool air and north-facing slopes in the southern hemi-
from the ocean (Fig. 2.13). The rising of air over sphere) receive more radiation than opposing
Landform Effects on Climate 39

Continental scale Local scale

(Indian (lakeshore or
subcontinent) seacoast)

Summer Day sea breeze

monsoon rains (afternoon thunderstorms)

Winter Night
monsoon drought land breeze

Fig. 2.13 Effects of land–sea heating contrasts on winter, the ocean is warmer than the land, reversing these
winds and precipitation at continental and local scales. wind patterns. At the local scale, similar heating con-
At the continental scale, the greater heating of land than trasts in coastal or lakeshore areas cause sea breezes and
sea during summer causes air to rise, drawing in cool afternoon thunderstorms during the day and land breezes
moist ocean air over India that fuels precipitation. In at night

slopes, creating warmer drier conditions. In cold Topography also influences climate through
or moist climates, the warmer microenvironment drainage of cold dense air. When air cools at
on equator-facing slopes provides conditions that night, it becomes denser and tends to flow down-
enhance productivity, decomposition, and other hill (katabatic winds) into valleys, where it
ecosystem processes, whereas in dry climates, the accumulates. This can produce temperature
greater drought on these slopes limits production. inversions (cool air beneath warm air, a vertical
Microclimatic variation associated with slope and temperature profile reversed from the typical pat-
aspect (the compass direction that a slope faces) tern in the troposphere of decreasing temperature
allows representatives of an ecosystem type to with increasing elevation; Fig. 2.4). Inversions
exist hundreds of kilometers beyond its major occur primarily at night and in winter, when heat-
zone of distribution. These outlier populations are ing from the sun is insufficient to promote con-
important sources of colonizing individuals dur- vective mixing. Clouds also tend to inhibit the
ing times of rapid climatic change and are there- formation of winter and nighttime inversions
fore important in understanding species migration because they increase longwave emission to the
and the long-term dynamics of ecosystem changes surface. Increases in solar heating or windy con-
(see Chap. 12). ditions, such as might accompany the passage of
40 2 Earth’s Climate System

frontal systems, break up inversions. Inversions turbulence that increases the efficiency of heat
are climatically important because they increase transfer from the surface to the atmosphere (see
the seasonal and diurnal temperature extremes Chap. 4). Smooth surfaces, in contrast, tend to
experienced by ecosystems in low-lying areas. In heat up because they transfer their heat only by
cool climates, inversions greatly reduce the length convection and not by mechanical turbulence.
of the frost-free growing season. The effects of vegetation structure on the effi-
ciency of water and energy exchange influence
regional climate. About 25–40% of the precipita-
Vegetation Influences on Climate tion in the Amazon basin comes from water that
is recycled from land by evapotranspiration.
Vegetation influences climate through its (Costa and Foley 1999). Simulations by climate
effects on the surface energy budget. Climate is models suggest that, if the Amazon basin were
quite sensitive to regional variations in vegetation completely converted from forest to pasture, this
and water content at Earth’s surface. The albedo would lead to a permanently warmer drier cli-
(the fraction of the incident shortwave radiation mate over the Amazon basin (Foley et al. 2003b).
reflected from a surface) determines the quantity The shallower roots of grasses would absorb less
of solar energy absorbed by the surface, which is water than trees, leading to lower transpiration
subsequently available for transfer to the atmo- rates (Fig. 2.14). Pastures would therefore release
sphere as longwave radiation and turbulent fluxes more of the absorbed solar radiation as sensible
of sensible and latent heat. Water generally has a heat, which directly warms the atmosphere. There
low albedo, so lakes and the ocean absorb consid- are many uncertainties, however. Changes in
erable solar energy. At the opposite extreme, cloudiness, for example, can have either a posi-
snow and ice have a high albedo and hence absorb tive or a negative effect on radiative forcing,
little solar radiation, contributing to the cold con- depending on cloud properties and height.
ditions required for their persistence. Vegetation Changes in albedo caused by vegetation change
is intermediate in albedo, with values generally can create amplifying feedbacks. At high latitudes,
decreasing from grasslands, with their highly for example, tree-covered landscapes absorb more
reflective standing dead leaves, to deciduous for- solar radiation prior to snowmelt than does snow-
ests to dark conifer forests (see Chap. 4). Recent covered tundra. Model simulations suggest that
land-use changes have substantially altered the northward movement of the tree line 6,000
regional albedo by increasing the area of exposed years ago could have reduced the regional albedo
bare soil. The albedo of soil depends on soil type and increased energy absorption enough to explain
and wetness but is often higher than that of vege- half of the climate warming that occurred at that
tation in dry climates. Consequently, overgrazing time (Foley et al. 1994). The warmer regional
often increases albedo, reducing energy absorp- climate would, in turn, favor tree reproduction
tion and the transfer of energy to the atmosphere. and establishment at the tree line (Payette and
This leads to cooling and subsidence, so moist Filion 1985), providing an amplifying (positive)
ocean air is not drawn inland by sea breezes. This feedback to regional warming (see Chap. 12).
can reduce precipitation and the capacity of veg- Predictions about the impact of future climate on
etation to recover from overgrazing (Foley et al. vegetation should therefore also consider ecosys-
2003a). The large magnitude of many land-surface tem feedbacks to climate (Field et al. 2007; Chapin
feedbacks to climate suggests that land-surface et al. 2008).
change can be an important contributor to regional Albedo, energy partitioning between latent
climatic change (Foley et al. 2003b). and sensible heat fluxes, and surface structure
Ecosystem structure influences the efficiency also influence the amount of longwave radiation
with which turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent emitted to the atmosphere (Fig. 2.3). Longwave
heat are transferred to the atmosphere. Wind pass- radiation depends on surface temperature, which
ing over tall uneven canopies creates mechanical tends to be high when the surface absorbs large
Temporal Variability in Climate 41

Rainforest vegetation Pasture vegetation

More humidity and

recycling Less humidity and
of water -- fueling high recycling
precipitation rates of water -- reduced
Solar Solar
precipitation rates
radiation radiation
High latent
heat loss Low sensible Higher sensible
heat loss heat loss
Evapotranspiration Lower latent
Low surface Low heat loss
temperature albedo
Lower Higher surface Higher
evapotranspiration temperature albedo

Fig. 2.14 Climatic consequences of tropical deforestation In pasture conditions that develop after deforestation, low
and conversion to pasture. In forested conditions, the low vegetation cover and shallow roots restrict transpiration
albedo provides ample energy absorption to drive high tran- and therefore the moisture available to support precipita-
spiration rates that cool the surface and supply abundant tion. This, together with high sensible heat flux leads to a
moisture to the atmosphere to fuel high precipitation rates. warm, dry climate. Based on Foley et al. (2003b)

amounts of incoming radiation (low albedo), has in absorption or reflection of solar energy.
little water to evaporate, or has a smooth surface Continental drift and mountain building and ero-
that is inefficient in transferring turbulent fluxes sion have modified the patterns of atmospheric
of sensible and latent heat to the atmosphere (see and ocean circulation on longer time scales. The
Chap. 4). Deserts, for example, experience large primary force responsible for the evolution of
net longwave energy losses because their dry Earth’s climate, however, has been changes in the
smooth surfaces lead to high surface tempera- input of solar radiation, which has increased by
tures, and little moisture is available to support about 30% over the past four billion years, as the
evaporation that would otherwise cool the soil. sun matured (Schlesinger 1997). On millennial
time scales, the distribution of solar input has
varied primarily due to predictable variations in
Temporal Variability in Climate Earth’s orbit.
Three types of variations in Earth’s orbit influ-
Long-Term Changes ence the amount of solar radiation received at the
surface at different times of the year and at differ-
Millennial-scale climatic change is driven pri- ent latitudes: eccentricity (the degree of elliptic-
marily by changes in the distribution of solar ity of Earth’s orbit around the sun), tilt (the angle
input and changes in atmospheric composi- between Earth’s axis of rotation relative to the
tion. Earth’s climate is a dynamic system that has plane of its orbit around the sun), and precession
changed repeatedly, producing frequent, and (a “wobbling” in Earth’s axis of rotation with
sometimes abrupt, changes in climate, including respect to the stars, determining the time of year
dramatic glacial periods (Fig. 2.15) and sea-level when different locations on Earth are closest to
changes. Volcanic eruptions and asteroid impacts the sun). The periodicities of these orbital
alter climate on short time scales through changes parameters (eccentricity, tilt, and precession) are
42 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.15 Geological time AGE MAJOR

ERA PERIOD EPOCH
periods in Earth’s history, (Ma) EVENTS
showing major glacial
events (dark bars) and 0 AGE OF
Anthropocene
ecological events that HUMANS
strongly influenced Quaternary * Holocene
ecosystem processes. Note 0.01
the changes in time scale Pleistocene

CENOZOIC
in units of millions of years 2
(Ma). The most recent Pliocene
geologic epoch (the 5 AGE OF
Anthropocene) began Miocene MAMMALS
about 1750 with the Tertiary 26
Oligocene
beginning of the industrial
37
revolution and is character-
Eocene
ized by human domination
53
of the biosphere (Crutzen Paleocene
2002). Modified from 65
Sturman and Tapper (1996) MESOZOIC Cretaceous
136 AGE OF
Jurassic DINOSAURS
190
Triassic Breakup
245 of Pangaea
Permian
Final assembly
Carboniferous 280 of Pangaea
Extensive coal
320 formation
PALEOZOIC

Devonian 345
First dense forests
395
Silurian First land plants
430
Ordovician
500 Primitive fish
Cambrian
570

Proterozoic
PRECAMBRIAN

2300
2800
First life
Archaean Formation of
the oceans
4600
Formation of
4700
the Earth

approximately 100,000, 41,000, and 23,000 triggered by minima in northern high-latitude

years, respectively. Interactions among these summer radiation that enable winter snowfall to
cycles produce Milankovitch cycles of solar persist through the year and build northern-
input that correlate with the glacial and intergla- hemisphere ice sheets that reflect incoming radia-
cial cycles. Analysis of these cycles indicates that tion. These changes become globally amplified
Earth would not naturally enter another ice age by feedbacks in Earth’s climate system (such as
for at least 30,000 years, so natural cycles in solar changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration) to
input will not substantially offset human-driven cause large climatic changes throughout the
warming of climate (IPCC 2007). Ice ages are planet.
Temporal Variability in Climate 43

Alder
Birch

Pine

Oak
Elm
Fir
Drier,
cooler
climate

Moister
Time (thousands of years ago)

climate
2.7

3.9
Drier
climate

8.6 Warming
trend
11.0

0 40 0 0 0 60 0 0 40

Pollen abundance (% of total tree pollen)

Fig. 2.16 Pollen profile from a bog in northwestern Minnesota showing changes in the dominant tree species over the
past 11,000 years. Redrawn from McAndrews (1966)

The chemistry of ice and trapped air bubbles analysis of ice cores from Greenland suggests
provide a paleorecord of the climate when the ice that large changes from glacial to interglacial cli-
formed. Ice cores drilled in Antarctica and mate can occur in decades or less. Such rapid
Greenland indicate considerable climate variabil- transitions in the climate system to a new state
ity over the past 650,000 years, in large part may be related to sudden changes in the strength
related to the Milankovitch cycles (see Fig. 14.6). of the thermohaline circulation that drives oce-
Analysis of bubbles in these cores indicates that anic heat transport from the equator to the poles.
past warming events have been associated with Past climates can also be reconstructed from
increases in CO2 and CH4 concentrations, provid- other paleorecords. Tree-ring records, obtained
ing circumstantial evidence for a past role of from living and dead trees, provide information
radiatively active gases in climate change. The about climate during the last several thousand
unique feature of the recent anthropogenic years. Variation in the width of tree rings records
increases in these gases is that they are occurring temperature and moisture, and chemical compo-
during an interglacial period, when Earth’s cli- sition of wood reflects the characteristics of the
mate is already relatively warm. These cores atmosphere at the time the wood was formed.
indicate that the CO2 concentration of the atmo- Pollen preserved in low-oxygen sediments of
sphere is higher now than at any time in at least lakes provides a history of plant taxa and climate
the last 650,000 years (IPCC 2007). Fine-scale over the past tens of thousand years (Fig. 2.16).
44 2 Earth’s Climate System

0.6
Annual mean

( oC deviation from the mean)

Global surface temperature
0.4 5-year mean

0.2

−0.2

−0.4

1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Year

Fig. 2.17 Time course of the average surface temperature of Earth from 1850 to 2005 (relative to the average tempera-
ture for this time period). Redrawn from IPCC (2007)

Pollen records from networks of sites can be used results from human activities that increase the
to construct maps of species distributions at vari- concentrations of radiatively active gases in the
ous times in the past and provide a history of spe- atmosphere (Fig. 2.18). These gases trap more of
cies migrations across continents after climatic the longwave radiation emitted by Earth’s surface
changes (COHMAP 1988). Other proxy records and warm the atmosphere, which retains more
provide measures of temperature (species com- water vapor (another potent greenhouse gas) and
position of Chironomids), precipitation (lake further increases the trapping of longwave radia-
level), pH, and geochemistry. tion. As a result, Earth is no longer in radiative
The combination of paleoclimate proxies indi- equilibrium but is losing less energy to space than
cates that climate is inherently variable over all it is absorbing from the sun. Consequently,
time scales. Atmospheric, oceanic, and other Earth’s surface warmed about 0.7°C from 1880
environmental changes that are occurring now to 2008 (Fig. 2.17) and is projected to warm an
due to human activities must be viewed as over- additional three to four times that amount by the
lays on the natural climate variability that stems end of the twenty-first century (Serreze 2010).
from long-term changes in Earth’s surface char- Climate models and recent observations indi-
acteristics and orbital geometry. cate that warming will be most pronounced in the
interiors of continents, far from the moderating
effects of the ocean, and at high latitudes. The
Anthropogenic Climate Change high-latitude warming reflects an amplifying
feedback. As climate warms, the snow and sea
Earth’s climate during the last half of the ice melt earlier in the year, which replaces the
twentieth century was warmer than during reflective snow or ice cover with a low-albedo
any 50-year interval in the last 500 years and land or water surface. These darker surfaces
probably the last 1,300 years or longer absorb more radiation and transfer this energy to
(Fig. 2.17; IPCC 2007; Serreze 2010). This the atmosphere, which amplifies the rate of cli-
warming is most pronounced near Earth’s sur- mate warming. Clouds, increases in water vapor,
face, where its ecological effects are greatest. and increases in poleward energy transport also
A small amount of the recent warming reflects an contribute to polar warming. Those changes in
increase in solar input, but most of the warming the climate system that occur over years to
Temporal Variability in Climate 45

Cooling Warming

CO2
Long-lived N2O
greenhouse gases
CH4 Halocarbons

Ozone Stratospheric Tropospheric

Anthropogenic

Stratospheric water
vapor from CH4

Land use
Surface albedo Black carbon
on snow
Direct effect
Total
aerosol Cloud albedo
effect

Linear contrails

Total net
anthropogenic

Solar irradiance
(Total natural)

−2 −1 0 1 2
Radiative forcing (W m−2)
Fig. 2.18 Global average radiative forcing of the climate The largest single cause of climate warming is the
system (i.e., external forces that modify the climate sys- increased concentration of atmospheric CO2, primarily as
tem) estimated for 2005. Some changes in the climate a result of burning fossil fuels. Redrawn from IPCC
system lead to net warming; others lead to net cooling. (2007)

decades are dominated by amplifying feedbacks, snowpack in mountains and therefore the spring
such as the ice–albedo feedback, causing anthro- runoff that fills reservoirs on which many cities
pogenic warming to accelerate (Serreze 2010). depend for water supply. The complex controls
As climate warms, the air has a higher capac- and nonlinear feedbacks in the climate system
ity to hold water vapor, so there is greater evapo- make detailed climate projections problematic
ration from the ocean and other moist surfaces. In and are active areas of research (IPCC 2007).
areas where rising air leads to condensation, this
leads to greater precipitation. Continental interi-
ors are less likely to experience large precipita- Interannual Climate Variability
tion increases but will be dried by increasing
evaporation. Consequently, soil moisture and Much of the interannual variation in regional
runoff to streams and rivers are likely to increase climate is associated with large-scale changes
in coastal regions and mountains and to decrease in the atmosphere–ocean system. Superimposed
in continental interiors. In other words, wet on long-term climate variability are interannual
regions will likely become wetter and dry regions variations that have been noted by farmers, fish-
drier. Winter warming is likely to reduce the ermen, and naturalists for centuries. Some of this
46 2 Earth’s Climate System

variability exhibits repeating geographic and ENSO events have widespread climatic,
temporal patterns. For example, El Niño/ ecosystem, and societal consequences. Strong El
Southern Oscillation or ENSO (Webster and Niño phases cause dramatic reductions in
Palmer 1997; Federov and Philander 2000) events anchovy fisheries in Peru with corresponding
are part of a large-scale, air–sea interaction that reproductive failure and mortality in sea birds
couples atmospheric pressure changes (the and marine mammals. For the past four centuries,
Southern Oscillation) with changes in ocean tem- Peruvian potato farmers detected incipient El
perature (El Niño) over the equatorial Pacific Niño conditions by looking at the brightness of
Ocean. ENSO events have occurred, on average, stars in the summer, which corresponds to the
every 3–7 years over the past century, with con- high cirrus clouds that accompany El Niño
siderable irregularity (Trenberth and Haar 1996). (Orlove et al. 2000). This enabled them to adjust
No events occurred between 1943 and 1951, for planting dates for their most critical crop.
example, and three major events occurred Similarly, annually variable harvest of shearwa-
between 1988 and 1999. ter chicks by New Zealand Maori provided early
In most years, the easterly trade winds push detection of El Niño events (Lyver et al. 1999).
the warm surface waters of the Pacific westward, Extremes in precipitation linked to ENSO cycles
so the layer of warm surface waters is deeper in are also evident in areas distant from the tropical
the western Pacific than in the east (Figs. 2.8 and Pacific. El Niño events bring hot, dry weather to
2.19). The resulting warm waters in the western the Amazon Basin, potentially affecting tree
Pacific are associated with a low-pressure center growth, soil carbon storage, and fire probability.
and promote convection and high rainfall in Northward extension of warm tropical waters to
Indonesia. The offshore movement of surface the Northern Pacific brings rains to coastal
waters in the eastern Pacific promotes upwelling California and high winter temperatures to
of colder, deeper water off the coasts of Ecuador Alaska. An important lesson from ENSO studies
and Peru. These cold, nutrient-rich waters sup- is that strong climatic events in one region have
port a productive fishery (see Chap. 9) and pro- climatic consequences throughout the globe due
mote subsidence of upper air, leading to the to the dynamic interactions (termed teleconnec-
development of a high-pressure center and low tions) associated with atmospheric circulation
precipitation. At times, however, the eastern- and ocean currents.
Pacific high-pressure center, Indonesian low- The Pacific North America (PNA) pattern is
pressure center, and the easterly trades all weaken. another large-scale pattern of climate variability.
The warm surface waters then move eastward, The positive mode of the PNA is characterized by
forming a deep layer of warm surface water in above-average atmospheric pressure with warm,
the eastern Pacific. This reduces or shuts down dry weather in western North America and below-
the upwelling of cold water, promoting atmo- average pressure and low temperatures in the
spheric convection and rainfall in coastal Ecuador east. Another large-scale climate pattern is
and Peru. The colder waters in the western Pacific, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a multi-
in contrast, inhibit convection, leading to droughts decadal pattern of climate variability that appears
in Indonesia, Australia, and India. This pattern is to modulate ENSO events. More El Niño events
commonly termed El Niño. Periods in which the tend to occur when the PDO is in its positive
“normal” pattern is particularly strong, with rela- phase, as during the last 25 years of the twentieth
tively cool surface waters in the eastern Pacific, century. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is
are termed La Niña. The trigger for changes in still another large-scale circulation pattern.
this ocean–atmosphere system are uncertain, but Positive phases of the NAO are associated with a
may involve large-scale ocean waves, known as strengthening of the pressure gradient between
Kelvin waves, that travel back and forth across the Icelandic low- and the Bermuda high-pressure
the tropical Pacific. systems (Fig. 2.9). This increases heat transport
Temporal Variability in Climate 47

"Normal" conditions
(La Niña event)

Westerly aloft

Low High
Easterly trades pressure
pressure

cli ne Cold
Thermo
upwelling

El Niño event

Weak winds Weak winds

Moderate Moderate
high high
pressure pressure
Low Low
pressure pressure

e
Thermoclin
Warm
downwelling

Fig. 2.19 Circulation of the ocean and atmosphere in precipitation off the coast of South America. In El Niño
the tropical Pacific between South America and years, however, weak easterly winds allow the surface
Indonesia during “normal (La Niña) years” and during waters to move from west to east across the Pacific
El Niño years. In normal years, strong easterly trade Ocean, leading to cooler surface waters and less precipi-
winds push surface ocean waters to the west, producing tation in Southeast Asia and warmer surface waters and
deep, warm waters and high precipitation off the coast more precipitation off South America. Redrawn from
of Southeast Asia and cold, upwelling waters and low McElroy (2002)

to high latitudes by wind and ocean currents, climatic changes will likely be associated with
leading to a warming of Scandinavia and western changes in the strength and frequencies of certain
North America and a cooling of eastern Canada. phases of these large-scale climate patterns rather
Although the factors that initiate these large-scale than simple linear trends in climate. Climate
climate features are poorly understood, the pat- warming, for example, might increase the fre-
terns themselves and their ecosystem conse- quency of El Niño events and positive phases of
quences are becoming more predictable. Future the PDO and NAO.
48 2 Earth’s Climate System

September At higher latitudes, the length of the warm season

strongly influences the life forms and productiv-
January July ity of ecosystems.
Sun Variations in light and temperature play an
important role in determining the types of plants
that grow in a given climate and the rates at which
March biological processes occur. Almost all biological
processes are temperature dependent, with slower
Fig. 2.20 Earth’s orbit around the sun, showing that the rates occurring at lower temperatures. Seasonal
zone of greatest heating (the ITCZ) is south of the equator
in January, north of the equator in July, and at the equator variations in day length (photoperiod) provide
in March and September important cues that allow organisms to prepare
for seasonal variations in climate.
In aquatic ecosystems, seasonal changes in
Seasonal and Daily Variation irradiance influence not only the temperature
and light environment but also the fundamen-
Seasonal and daily variations in solar input tal structure of the ecosystem. Both lakes and
have profound but predictable effects on cli- the ocean are heated from the top, with most solar
mate and ecosystems. Perhaps the most obvious radiation absorbed and converted to heat in the
variations in the climate system are the patterns of upper centimeters to meters of the water column.
seasonal and diurnal change. Earth rotates on its This surface heating tends to stratify lakes and
axis at 23.5° relative to its orbital plane about the the ocean, with warmer, less dense water at the
sun. This tilt in Earth’s axis results in strong sea- surface (Fig. 2.21). This tendency for stratifica-
sonal variations in day length and solar irradi- tion is counter-balanced by turbulent mixing from
ance, i.e., the quantity of solar energy received wind, river inflow, and the cooling of surface
at Earth’s surface per unit time. During the waters that occurs at night and during periods of
spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun is directly cold weather. Stratification is least pronounced in
overhead at the equator, and the entire earth sur- wind-exposed lakes or lakes with large river
face receives approximately 12 h of daylight inputs (e.g., many reservoirs) where turbulence
(Fig. 2.20). At the northern-hemisphere summer mixes water to substantial depth. In the open
solstice, the sun’s rays strike Earth most directly ocean, the turbulent mixed layer is often 100–
in the northern hemisphere, and day length is 200 m in depth. In shallow lakes, turbulence often
maximized. At the northern-hemisphere winter mixes the entire water column.
solstice, the sun’s rays strike Earth most obliquely Lake stratification is most stable in the tem-
in the northern hemisphere, and day length is perate zone between about 25–40° N and S lati-
minimized. The summer and winter solstices in tude (Kalff 2002). In colder climates, cold surface
the southern hemisphere are 6 months out of waters reduce the temperature (and therefore
phase with those in the north. Variations in inci- density) gradients from the surface to depth. In
dent radiation become increasingly pronounced the tropics, deep waters are warm throughout the
as latitude increases. Thus, tropical environments year, so there is only a weak temperature gradient
experience relatively small seasonal differences (often about 1°C) from the surface to depth.
in solar irradiance and day length, whereas such Seasonal fluctuations in wind-driven evaporation
differences are maximized in the Arctic and and cloudiness account for much of the seasonal
Antarctic. Above the Arctic and Antarctic circles, variation in surface-water temperatures of tropi-
there are 24 h of daylight at the summer solstice, cal lakes.
and the sun never rises at the winter solstice. Stratification of nontropical lakes develops
The relative homogeneity of temperature and during summer, when the heating of surface
light throughout the year in the tropics contrib- waters is most intense. Weakly stratified lakes
utes to their high productivity and diversity. often mix water throughout the water column even
Temporal Variability in Climate 49

1/2 hour --- 1 week 1/2 hour --- 1 year Minutes - days
Inflow Outflow

Mixed layer
Horizontal mixing Vertical mixing 1/2 hour
10 m
1 day

Metalimnion
Horizontal mixing

Vertical scale
Vertical mixing 3 months
10 m
10 days

Hypolimnion
Horizontal mixing Vertical mixing 1 year

10 days 50 m

Horizontal scale 10 km

Fig. 2.21 Estimates of horizontal and vertical mixing times in a medium-sized temperate lake. Redrawn from Kalff
(2002)

during the summer. In these lakes, mixing may exceeds respiration from a deeper, poorly illumi-
occur at night, if air temperatures are cooler than nated hypolimnion where respiration exceeds
the surface waters, or during storms, when wind- photosynthesis. This spatial separation of these
driven mixing is more intense. In lakes that are key ecosystem processes results in surface oxy-
more stably stratified (e.g., temperate lakes that genation and nutrient depletion and nutrient
are deep or protected from wind), two relatively enrichment and oxygen depletion at depth.
discrete layers develop: an epilimnion at the sur- Seasonal and wind-driven mixing events are crit-
face that is heated by absorbed radiation and ical for resupplying nutrients to the epilimnion
mixed by wind and a hypolimnion at depth that is and oxygen to the hypolimnion. Lakes often
colder, more dense, and unaffected by surface tur- experience a spring algal bloom when increases
bulence (Fig. 2.21). Turnover of these stably in light and temperature enable algae to take
stratified temperate lakes occurs in the autumn, advantage of the nutrients that are resupplied to
when air temperature declines below the tempera- the epilimnion during autumn and winter.
ture of the epilimnion, causing the epilimnion to Eutrophication of lakes by nutrient inputs from
cool. This surface cooling reduces the density gra- fertilizers or sewage reduces water clarity, which
dient from the surface to depth so that wind-driven concentrates the heating of water near the surface
turbulence mixes waters more deeply in the lake. and reduces the depth of the epilimnion. Increased
Even in wind-protected lakes, nighttime cooling surface production also increases the rain of dead
makes surface waters cooler and denser, causing organic matter to depth, which depletes oxygen
the water column to mix to depth. from the water column, making eutrophic lakes
Stratification is important because it separates less suitable for fish despite their high algal
a well-lighted surface layer where photosynthesis productivity.
50 2 Earth’s Climate System

Storms and Weather in their intensity are likely to alter the structure
and long-term dynamics of ecosystems (see
Storms, droughts, and other unpredictable Chap. 12).
weather events strongly influence ecosystems.
Because extreme events, by definition, occur
infrequently, it is generally impossible to explain Relationship of Climate
unambiguously the climatic cause of a particular to Ecosystem Distribution
event. The intensity of hurricanes and other tropi- and Structure
cal storms, for example, depends on sea-surface
temperature, so it is not surprising that ocean Climate is the major determinant of the global
warming is associated with an increase in hurri- distribution of biomes. The major types of
cane intensity (IPCC 2007). Nonetheless, we ecosystems show predictable relationships with cli-
cannot say that climate warming causes any par- matic variables such as temperature and moisture
ticular event, such as Hurricane Katrina, which (Fig. 2.22; Holdridge 1947; Whittaker 1975; Bailey
flooded New Orleans in 2005 (Fig. 2.1). Rather, 1998). An understanding of the causes of geo-
intense hurricanes of that sort will probably occur graphic patterns of climate (Fig. 2.23), as presented
more often, if climate continues to warm. in this chapter, therefore allows us to predict the
Increased latitudinal heat transport associated distribution of Earth’s major biomes (Fig. 2.24).
with climate warming has also caused a strength- Tropical wet forests (rainforests) occur from
ening and poleward shift in westerly winds, 12°N to 3°S and correspond to the ITCZ. Day
increasing the frequency of intense storms at high length and solar angle show little seasonal
latitudes. These tropical and high-latitude storms change within this zone, leading to consistently
are important agents of disturbance, so changes high temperatures (Figs. 2.22–2.25). High solar

800

600 Tropical
wet
Precipitation (cm yr −1)

forest

400

Temperate
wet forest
Tropical
200 dry
Temperate forest
forest
Boreal Grassland/
Ice forest savanna
Tundra Desert
0
−30 −20 −10 0 10 20 30
Air temperature ( C)o

Fig. 2.22 Distribution of major biomes in relation to of all terrestrial locations (excluding Antarctica) at
average annual air temperature and total annual precipita- 18.5-km resolution (data from New et al. (2002)). Diagram
tion. Gray dots show the temperature–precipitation regime kindly provided by Joseph Craine and Andrew Elmore
Relationship of Climate to Ecosystem Distribution and Structure 51

Fig. 2.23 The global patterns of average annual temperature and total annual precipitation (New et al. 1999).
Reproduced from the Atlas of the Biosphere ([Link]

radiation and convergence of the easterly trade and have low precipitation that is highly sea-
winds at the ITCZ promote strong convective sonal. Subtropical deserts (Fig. 2.28) at
uplift leading to high precipitation (175–400 cm 25–30°N and S have a warm, dry climate because
annually). Periods of relatively low precipitation of the subsidence of air in the descending limb of
seldom last more than 1–2 months. Tropical dry the Hadley cell.
forests (Fig. 2.26) occur north and south of Mid-latitude deserts, grasslands, and shrub-
tropical wet forests. Tropical dry forests have lands (Fig. 2.29) occur in the interiors of conti-
pronounced wet and dry seasons because of sea- nents, particularly in the rain shadow of mountain
sonal movement of ITCZ over (wet season) and ranges. They have low unpredictable precipitation,
away from these forests (dry season). Tropical low winter temperatures, and greater temperature
savannas (Fig. 2.27) occur between the tropical extremes than tropical deserts. As precipitation
dry forests and deserts. These savannas are warm increases, there is a gradual transition from desert
 52

Fig. 2.24 The global distribution of Earth’s major biomes and the seasonal patterns of monthly average temperature and precipitation at one representative site for each biome.
Climate data are monthly averages of the entire period of record for selected sites through the year 2000 ([Link] Map
redrawn from Bailey (1998)
2 Earth’s Climate System
Relationship of Climate to Ecosystem Distribution and Structure 53

Fig. 2.25 Tropical wet

forest in Brazil. It is
characterized by a diversity
of life forms and species,
including vines, epiphytes,
and broadleafed evergreen
trees. Photograph by Peter
Vitousek

Fig. 2.26 Subtropical dry forest in Chamela, western Mexico in the wet and dry seasons. The forest is dominated by
drought-deciduous trees. Photograph by Peter Vitousek
54 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.27 Subtropical savanna in Kruger National These fine-leaf savannas burn frequently, permitting
Park, South Africa, showing a diversity of plants both trees and grasses to coexist. Photograph courtesy
(grasses, shrubs, and trees) and grazing mammals. of Alan K. Knapp

Fig. 2.28 Sonoran desert landscape in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona, showing a diversity of drought-adapted
life forms, with substantial bare ground between plants. Photograph courtesy of Jim Elser
Relationship of Climate to Ecosystem Distribution and Structure 55

Fig. 2.29 Mid-latitude Kansas grassland (tallgrass prai- to the wetter portions of the landscape where they are
rie) in early summer with bison grazing. This landscape also protected from fire. Photograph courtesy of Alan
was burned early in the spring. Here, trees are restricted K. Knapp

Fig. 2.30 Mediterranean shrubland in the Santa Monica Mountains of coastal California. It occurs on steep slopes with
shallow soils and supporting drought-adapted deciduous and evergreen shrubs. Photograph courtesy of Stephen Davis

to grassland to shrubland. Mediterranean shrub- equator, storms produced by polar fronts pro-
lands (Fig. 2.30) are situated on the west coasts vide unpredictable precipitation. Temperate
of continents. In summer, subtropical oceanic forests (Fig. 2.31) occur in mid-latitudes, where
high-pressure centers and cold upwelling coastal there is enough precipitation to support trees.
currents produce a warm dry climate. In winter, The polar front, the boundary between the polar
as wind and pressure systems move toward the and subtropical air masses, migrates north and
56 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.31 Temperate forest in the eastern U.S. (North Carolina), showing a complex multi-layered canopy with
sunflecks common in all canopy layers. Photograph courtesy of Norm Christensen

Fig. 2.32 Temperate wet forest in the Valley of the The understory has coarse woody debris and a flora of
Giants in the Oregon Coast Range of the western U.S. The shrubs, ferns, herbs, mosses, and tree seedlings.
stand contains a range of tree ages up to five centuries. Photograph courtesy of Mark E. Harmon

south of these forests from summer to winter, pro- migrating low-pressure centers associated with
ducing a strongly seasonal climate. Temperate the polar front promote high precipitation. Winters
wet forests (rainforests; Fig. 2.32) occur on the are mild, and summers are cool.
west coasts of continents at 40–65°N and S, where The boreal forest (taiga; Fig. 2.33) occurs in
westerlies blowing across a relatively warm continental interiors at 50–70°N. The winter cli-
ocean provide an abundant moisture source, and mate is dominated by polar air masses and the
Relationship of Climate to Ecosystem Distribution and Structure 57

Fig. 2.33 Boreal forest on the Tanana River of Interior to mature white spruce stands in the center of the photo-
Alaska. The landscape contains a spectrum of stand ages, graph to muskegs on terraces in the distance that are
ranging from early successional shrub stands on the point thousands of years old. Photograph courtesy of Roger
bar in the lower left and in the clearcut in the upper left Ruess

summer climate by temperate air masses, producing along climatic gradients. Along a moisture gradient
cold winters and mild summers. The distance in the tropics, for example, vegetation changes
from oceanic moisture sources results in low from tall evergreen trees in the wettest sites to a
precipitation. The subzero average annual tem- mix of evergreen and deciduous trees in areas with
perature leads to permafrost (permanently fro- seasonal drought (Fig. 2.35; Ellenberg 1979).
zen ground) that restricts drainage and creates As the climate becomes still drier, the stature
poorly drained soils and peatlands in low-lying of the trees and shrubs declines because of less
areas. Arctic tundra (Fig. 2.34) is a zone north light competition and more competition for water
of the polar front in both summer and winter, (Fig. 2.36). Ultimately, this leads to a shrubless
resulting in a climate that is too cold to support desert with herbaceous perennial herbs in dry habi-
growth of trees. Short cool summers restrict bio- tats. With extreme drought, the dominant life form
logical activity and limit the range of life forms becomes annuals and bulbs (herbaceous perennials
that can survive. in which aboveground parts die during the dry
Vegetation structure varies with climate both season). A similar gradient of growth forms, leaf
among and within biomes. Predictable growth types, and life forms occurs along moisture gra-
forms of plants dominate each biome type. dients at other latitudes.
Broadleaved evergreen trees, for example, domi- The diversity of growth forms within some
nate tropical wet forests, whereas areas that are ecosystems can be nearly as great as the diver-
periodically too cold or dry for growth of these sity of dominant growth forms across biomes.
trees are dominated by deciduous forests or, under In tropical wet forests, for example, continuous
more extreme conditions, by tundra or desert, seasonal growth in a warm, moist climate
respectively. Biomes are not discrete units with produces large trees with dense canopies that
sharp boundaries but vary continuously in structure intercept, and compete for, a large fraction of
58 2 Earth’s Climate System

Fig. 2.34 Arctic tundra near Toolik Lake in northern kept wet and cold by a continuous layer of permafrost
foothills of the Brooks Range of Alaska. The landforms 30–50 cm beneath the surface. Photograph by Stuart
were shaped by Pleistocene glaciations, and the soils are Chapin

50
Vegetation
Canopy height (m)

25

0
Evergreen forest Evergreen Half- Drought- Xeromorphic Tropical shrub Tropical
seasonal forest evergreen deciduous shrubland half-desert desert
forest forest
Trees Soft-leafed evergreen
Hard-leafed evergreen

Epiphytes

Vines Soft-leafed evergreen Hard-leafed evergreen

Shrubs

Shrubs Drought-deciduous
Evergreen

Perennial herbs Drought-deciduous

Annuals and bulbs
Life forms

Fig. 2.35 The change in life-form dominance along a tropical gradient where precipitation changes but temperature is
relatively constant. Redrawn from Ellenberg (1979)

the incoming radiation. Light then becomes the canopy, their growth is often water-limited.
main driver of diversity within the ecosystem. Epiphytes have therefore evolved various spe-
Plants that reach the canopy and have access to cializations to trap water and nutrients. There is a
light compete well with tall trees. These growth wide range of sub-canopy trees, shrubs, and herbs
forms include vines, which parasitize trees for that are adapted to grow slowly under the low-
support without investing carbon in strong stems. light conditions beneath the canopy (Fig. 2.35).
Epiphytes are also common in the canopies of Light is the most important general driver of
tropical wet forests where they receive abundant structural diversity in the dense forests of wet
light, but, because their roots are restricted to the tropical regions.
Summary 59

Fig. 2.36 Patagonian steppe in cold, arid mountains of Argentina. Steppe is an example of a cold, dry ecosystem type
intermediate between widespread “biomes.” Photograph courtesy of Sandra Díaz

What determines structural diversity where tion, productivity, disturbance frequency, com-
moisture, rather than light, is limiting? Deserts, petitive interactions, land area available, and
particularly warm deserts, have a great diversity other factors have all been hypothesized to con-
of plant forms, including evergreen and decidu- tribute to global patterns of diversity (Heywood
ous small trees and shrubs, succulents, herba- and Watson 1995). Models that include only
ceous perennials, and annuals. These growth climate, acting as a filter on the plant functional
forms do not show a well-defined vertical parti- types that can occur in a region, can reproduce
tioning but show consistent horizontal patterns the general global patterns of structural and
related to moisture availability. Trees and tall species diversity (Fig. 2.37; Kleiden and
shrubs, for example, predominate adjacent to Mooney 2000). The actual causes for geo-
seasonal streams, evergreen shrubs in clay-rich graphic patterns of species diversity are
soils that retain water, and succulents in the driest undoubtedly more complex, but these models
habitats. Competition for water results in diverse and other analyses suggest that human-induced
strategies for gaining, storing, and using the lim- changes in climate, land use, and invasions of
ited water supply. This leads to a wide range of exotic species may alter future patterns of
rooting strategies and capacities to avoid or with- diversity.
stand drought.
Species diversity declines from the tropics
to high latitudes and in many cases from low Summary
to high elevation. Species-rich tropical areas
support more than 5,000 species of plants in a The balance between incoming and outgoing
10,000-km2 area, whereas the high arctic has radiation determines Earth’s energy budget. The
fewer than 200 species in the same area. Many atmosphere transmits about half of the incom-
animal groups show similar latitudinal patterns ing shortwave solar radiation to Earth’s surface
of diversity, in part because of their dependence but absorbs 90% of the outgoing longwave radi-
on the underlying plant diversity. Climate, the ation emitted by Earth. This causes the atmo-
evolutionary time available for species radia- sphere to be heated primarily from the bottom
60 2 Earth’s Climate System

−90

−60

−30

ice
0 <2%
2- 4%
4-10%
30 10-20%
20-30%
30-40%
60 40-60%
60-80%
80%
90
−180 −120 −60 0 60 120 180

Fig. 2.37 Global distribution of species richness based on diversity simulated) that use climate as a filter to reduce
observations (top; units number of species per 10,000 km2) the number of allocation strategies. Reprinted from
and on model simulations (bottom; units % of maximum Kleiden and Mooney (2000)

and generates convective motion in the atmo- poles to balance these inequalities. In the process,
sphere. Large-scale patterns of atmospheric cir- they create three relatively distinct air masses in
culation occur because the tropics receive more each hemisphere, a tropical air mass (0–30°N and
energy from the sun than they emit to space, S), a temperate air mass (30–60°N and S), and a
whereas the poles lose more energy to space than polar air mass (60–90°N and S). There are four
they receive from the sun. The resulting circula- major areas of high pressure (the two poles and
tion cells transport heat from the equator to the 30°N and S), where air descends, and precipita-
Review Questions 61

tion is low. The subtropical high-pressure belts of years to decades. Future changes in climate
are the zones of the world’s major deserts. There may reflect changes in the frequencies of these
are three major zones of low pressure (the equa- large-scale climate modes.
tor and 60°N and S), where air rises, and precipi-
tation is high. These areas support the tropical
rainforests at the equator and the temperate rain- Review Questions
forests of northwestern North America and south-
western South America. Ocean currents account 1. Describe the energy budget of Earth’s sur-
for about 40% of the latitudinal heat transport face and the atmosphere. What are the major
from the equator to the poles. These currents are pathways by which energy is absorbed by
driven by surface winds and by the downwelling Earth’s surface? By the atmosphere? What
of cold saline waters at high latitudes, balanced are the roles of clouds and radiatively active
by upwelling at lower latitudes. gases in determining the relative importance
Regional and local patterns of climate reflect of these pathways?
heterogeneity in Earth’s surface. Uneven heating 2. Why is the troposphere warmest at the bot-
between the land and the ocean modifies the gen- tom but the stratosphere is warmest at the top?
eral latitudinal patterns of climate by generating How does each of these atmospheric layers
zones of prevailing high and low pressure. These influence the environment of ecosystems?
pressure centers are associated with storm tracks 3. Explain how unequal heating of Earth by the
that are guided by major mountain ranges in ways sun and the resulting atmospheric circulation
that strongly influence regional patterns of cli- produces the major latitudinal climate zones,
mate. The ocean and large lakes also moderate such as those characterized by tropical for-
climate on adjacent lands because their high heat ests, subtropical deserts, temperate forests,
capacity causes them to heat or cool more slowly and arctic tundra.
than land. These heating contrasts produce pre- 4. How do the rotation of Earth (and the result-
dictable seasonal winds (monsoons) and daily ing Coriolis effect) and the separation of
winds (land/sea breezes) that influence the adja- Earth’s surface into the ocean and continents
cent land. Mountains also create heterogeneity in influence the global patterns of climate?
precipitation and in the quantity of solar radiation 5. How does the chemical composition of
intercepted. Earth’s atmosphere influence the climate of
Vegetation influences climate through its Earth?
effects on surface albedo, which determines the 6. What causes the global pattern in surface
quantity of incoming radiation absorbed by the ocean currents? Why are the deep-water
surface, and energy released to the atmosphere ocean currents different from those at the
via longwave radiation and turbulent fluxes of surface? What is the nature of the connec-
latent and sensible heat. Sensible heat fluxes and tion between deep- and surface-ocean
longwave radiation directly heat the atmosphere, currents?
and latent heat transfers water vapor to the atmo- 7. How does ocean circulation influence cli-
sphere, influencing local temperature and mois- mate at global, continental, and local scales?
ture sources for precipitation. 8. How does topography affect climate at conti-
Climate is variable over all time scales. Long- nental and local scales?
term variations in climate are driven largely by 9. What are the major causes of long-term
changes in solar input and atmospheric composi- changes in climate? How would you expect
tion. Superimposed on these long-term trends are future climate to differ from that of today in
predictable daily and seasonal patterns of cli- 100 years? 100,000 years? 1 billion years?
mate, as well as repeating patterns such as those Explain your answers.
associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation. 10. Explain how the interannual variations in
These oscillations cause widespread changes in climate of Indonesia, Peru, and California
the geographic pattern of climate on time scales are interconnected.
62 2 Earth’s Climate System

11. Explain the climatic basis for the global ecosystems could affect earth’s climate. Frontiers of
distribution of each major biome type. Use Ecology and the Environment 1:38–44.
Graedel, T.E. and P.J. Crutzen. 1995. Atmosphere,
maps of global winds and ocean currents to Climate, and Change. Scientific American Library.
explain these distributions. New York.
12. Describe the climate of your birthplace. Oke, T.R. 1987. Boundary Layer Climates. 2nd Edition.
Using your understanding of the global cli- Methuen, London.
Skinner, B.J., S.C. Porter, and D.B. Botkin. 1999. The
mate system, explain why this location has
Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science.
its characteristic climate. 2nd Edition. Wiley, New York.
Serreze, M.C. 2010. Understanding recent climate change.
Conservation Biology 24:10–17.
Additional Reading Sturman, A.P., and N.J. Tapper. 1996. The Weather and
Climate of Australia and New Zealand. Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
Ahrens, C.D. 2003. Meteorology Today: An Introduction
Trenberth, K.E. and D.P. Stepaniak. 2004. The flow of
to Weather, Climate, and the Environment. 7th edition.
energy through the earth’s climate system.
Thomson Learning, Pacific Grove, CA.
Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society 30:
Foley, J.A., M.H. Costa, C. Delire, N. Ramankutty, and 2677–2701.
P. Snyder. 2003. Green surprise? How terrestrial