Question

A diagram explaining the cause of the seasons shows the Earth in its orbit around the sun. What is the main factor in how the changing seasons occur?
A. how close the Earth is to the sun


B. how fast the sun sends rays to the Earth


C. the speed at which the Earth rotates during the year


D. the tilt of the Earth on its axis in

Answer 1

The Sun doesn’t heat the Earth evenly. Because the Earth is a sphere, the Sun heats equatorial regions more than polar regions. The atmosphere and ocean work non-stop to even out solar heating imbalances through evaporation of surface water, convection, rainfall, winds, and ocean circulation. This coupled atmosphere and ocean circulation is known as Earth’s heat engine.

The climate’s heat engine must not only redistribute solar heat from the equator toward the poles, but also from the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere back to space. Otherwise, Earth would endlessly heat up. Earth’s temperature doesn’t infinitely rise because the surface and the atmosphere are simultaneously radiating heat to space. This net flow of energy into and out of the Earth system is Earth’s energy budget