Name: climate patterns and earth’s energy balance
Uploaded: 2025-10-23T11:48:47.000Z
Duration: 1 min 16 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

north-carolina-k-12-science-standard-course-of-study

North Carolina K-12 Science Standard Course of Study

9-12

Earth and Environmental Science

Earth and Human Activity

ESS.EES.5.1

What is Climate?

- (Relatore] Per clima si
intendono le condizioni

atmosferiche che si verificano
in un luogo nel corso di

anni, decadi o addirittura
millenni, e variano fortemente

in base agli elementi
geografici come la latitudine

il terreno e la presenza di masse d'acqua.

Lungo l'equatore, dove
l'energia solare è più vicina

alla Terra, una maggiore
quantità di radiazioni solari

vengono assorbite e
intrappolate nell'atmosfera

aumentando le temperature
annuali e le piogge

rispetto alle latitudini maggiori.

All'altro estremo, i Poli Nord e Sud

ricevono energia solare da raggi obliqui.

Essi si diffondono su un'area
più vasta della superficie

terrestre assorbendo una
quantità decisamente inferiore di

energia, e questo causa
temperature più basse.

Su scala locale, il
terreno e le masse d'acqua

giocano un ruolo importante nel clima.

Ad esempio, la catena
della Ande in Sud America

blocca l'umidità che sale dall'Amazzonia,

creando un'ombra pluviometrica
che genera il clima secco e

arido del deserto di Atacama.

Ci sono anche variazioni
cicliche della temperatura

e piogge che durano
lunghi periodi di tempo.

Poiché la Terra ruota sul
proprio asse inclinato,

la quantità di radiazioni
solari che raggiunge

la superficie della Terra cambia
a seconda della latitudine

dando luogo alle stagioni.

Loubere, Paul. "Il sistema climatico globale". Nature Education Knowledge 3 n. 10 (2012): 24 [<a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-global-climate-system-74649049" target="__blank">Source</a>]

Kiehl, J. T. e Kevin E. Trenberth. "Bilancio energetico medio globale annuale della Terra". Bollettino della Società Meteorologica Americana 78, n. 2 (1 febbraio 1997): 197-208. [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1997)078%3C0197:EAGMEB%3E2.0.CO;2" target="__blank">Source</a>]

cos'è il clima?

Il clima si riferisce alle condizioni meteorologiche prevalenti in un'area specifica per un periodo prolungato. Come dice il proverbio: "Il clima è quello che ti aspetti. Meteo è quello che si ottiene. Il clima è influenzato da fattori geografici, come la latitudine, il terreno e la vicinanza ai corpi idrici.

<h4>Meteo e clima</h4>

Meteo e clima sono correlati, anche se differiscono in termini di scala temporale e prevedibilità. Meteo si riferisce allo stato dell'atmosfera in un momento e luogo specifici, mentre il clima comprende le condizioni meteorologiche "medie" per un tempo molto più lungo. In termini di prevedibilità, le previsioni meteo sono limitate a giorni, ma il clima può essere modellato e previsto in periodi sostanziali, come anni o addirittura decenni.

<h4>Il sistema climatico</h4>

Il sistema climatico della Terra è costituito da diversi sottosistemi più piccoli e interagenti. L'atmosfera è un involucro di gas che circonda la Terra. L'idrosfera è costituita da tutta l'acqua sopra, sopra o sotto la superficie terrestre. Gli oceani coprono più di due terzi della superficie terrestre. Il ghiaccio, tra cui ghiaccio marino, ghiacciai, calotte glaciali e neve, comprende la criosfera, che fa anche parte dell'idrosfera. La geosfera, o litosfera, è costituita dalla crosta terrestre. Infine, la biosfera comprende tutti gli ecosistemi sulla Terra, compresi tutti gli organismi viventi e le loro interazioni con l'atmosfera, l'idrosfera, la criosfera e la litosfera. Questi sottosistemi scambiano energia, acqua e slancio. La fonte di energia che guida tutte queste complesse interazioni è la radiazione proveniente dal sole.

<h4>Equilibrio energetico planetario</h4>

Il sistema climatico è alimentato dalle radiazioni del sole; tuttavia, la radiazione solare non fornisce nemmeno abbastanza energia per mantenere la Terra al di sopra delle temperature di congelamento. La temperatura della Terra, che ha un impatto significativo sul clima, dipende dall'amplificazione dell'energia termica da radiazioni solari. La superficie terrestre assorbe circa il 49% della radiazione solare, e il 20% viene assorbito dall'atmosfera. Questa radiazione riscalda il pianeta, il che a sua volta fa sì che la Terra irradia energia nello spazio. Così, la temperatura finale del pianeta è determinata dall'equilibrio tra l'energia che come assorbita e persa.

<h4>Cambiamento climatico e società</h4>

Rispetto ai modelli rivelati dai dati storici, il clima della Terra sta cambiando rapidamente. Mentre questi cambiamenti sono troppo minuti per notare giorno per giorno, l'accumulo di questi piccoli cambiamenti potrebbe avere un impatto devastante sulla società. Le industrie agricole e di produzione alimentare sono particolarmente vulnerabili ai cambiamenti climatici e sono stati creati diversi modelli per prevedere i potenziali effetti del cambiamento climatico. Mentre gli effetti del cambiamento climatico sulla produzione alimentare variano a seconda delle colture e della regione, un modello prevede che l'Asia meridionale e l'Africa australe potrebbero subire impatti negativi su diverse colture che sono importanti per le grandi popolazioni in sicure dal punto di vista alimentare.

Cos'è il clima?

Il clima si riferisce alle condizioni meteorologiche prevalenti in un'area specifica per un periodo prolungato. Come dice il proverbio, "Il clima è quello che ti aspetti. ...

Education

Didattica

JoVE Core

Biology

Biologia

Ecology

Ecologia

Biodiversity and Conservation

Biodiversità e Conservazione

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

TERMINI E CONCETTI CHIAVE

climate patterns and earth’s energy balance

Climate describes the usual weather conditions in a place over a long period of time. The idea is simple: climate is what you expect, while weather is what you get. Climate is shaped by geographic factors such as latitude, terrain, and how close an area is to bodies of water.

Weather and climate are related, but they work on different time scales. Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place. Climate is the average pattern of weather over much longer periods. Because of that, weather forecasts usually reach only a few days ahead, while climate can be modeled over years or even decades.

Earth’s climate system is made of several connected parts. The atmosphere is the layer of gases around Earth. The hydrosphere includes all the water on, above, or below the surface. Oceans cover more than two-thirds of Earth’s surface. The cryosphere includes ice, such as sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and snow, and it is part of the hydrosphere. The geosphere, also called the lithosphere, is Earth’s crust. The biosphere includes all ecosystems and living organisms, along with their interactions with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and lithosphere.

These subsystems exchange energy, water, and momentum. The main driver of these interactions is radiation from the Sun. Solar radiation powers the climate system, but it does not provide enough energy by itself to keep Earth above freezing. Earth’s temperature depends on how solar energy is amplified and transferred as thermal energy.

Earth’s surface absorbs about 49% of incoming solar radiation, and the atmosphere absorbs about 20%. This absorbed energy warms the planet. Earth then radiates energy back into space. The planet’s temperature depends on the balance between energy absorbed and energy lost.

Earth’s climate is now changing rapidly compared with patterns seen in historical data. These changes are small from day to day, but they can build up over time and affect society in serious ways. Agriculture and food production are especially vulnerable to climate change. Models show that the effects vary by crop and region, and one model predicts negative impacts in South Asia and Southern Africa for several crops that support large food-insecure populations.

Climate Patterns and Earth’s Energy Balance

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what is climate?

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key terms and concepts

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Climate Patterns and Earth’s Energy Balance | JoVE K12

JoVE Core series brings biology to life through over 300 concise and easy-to-understand animated video lessons that explain key concepts in biology, plus more than 150 scientist-in-action videos that show actual research experiments conducted in today’s laboratories.

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JoVE Core Biologia illustra i concetti chiave della biologia grazie a oltre 300 video-lezioni animate, concise e di facile comprensione. Inoltre, negli oltre 150 video di "scienziati in azione", i concetti scientifici vengono applicati e dimostrati da ricercatori attraverso esperimenti in laboratorio.

Climate Patterns and Earth’s Energy Balance

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