Earth and Climate System

The Sun is the center of our climate system. It provides a fairly steady stream of radiant energy to Earth, and in order to keep from heating up, Earth in turn radiates energy back out into space. In between the incoming and outgoing radiation are all of the rich complex processes involved in the climate system including all of the weather systems, the entire hydrological cycle, the ocean, land and ice, and the multitude of forms of heat and energy on the planet. The internal interactive components in the climate system (Fig. 1.1) include the atmosphere, oceans, ice, and land.