Factors Controlling the Temperature Distribution

According to the National Climate Assessment, human actions are the leading source of global warming, particularly the carbon pollution that we generate by burning fossil fuels and the carbon-capture we impede by destroying forests. We produce carbon dioxide, soot, methane, and other pollutants into the atmosphere, which act as a blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and causing the world to warm. 

Evidence suggests that the decade from 2000 to 2009 was indeed the hottest in the last 1,300 years. The earth’s climatic system, such as its land, oceans, environment, and ice, is changing in profound ways due to this warming. This paper will discuss the factors controlling the temperature distribution and its impact on climate and animal life. 

What Are The Factors Controlling The Temperature Distribution?

Factors affecting temperature are 

• The Latitude
• The Altitude.
• Distance from the sea
• Ocean currents
• Streams of air

These are the basic factors controlling the temperature distribution.

The Latitudes

• The amount of insolation received is determined by the location.
• Because the earth’s surface is curved, the sun’s vertical rays fall at different angles on different sections of the planet’s surface.
• At the equator, vertical rays strike the earth’s surface at a 90-degree angle (angle of incidence).
• As a result, the temperature fluctuates.

The Altitude

• Terrestrial radiation heats the atmosphere the most.
• As a result, places near the earth are warmer than places further away (at higher elevations).
• As a result, as the distance from the earth’s surface increases, the temperature decreases.
• The temperature typically drops by almost 6 celsius per 1000 meters of height, also referred to as the Average Lapse Rate.

Distance from Sea

• Another factor influencing a region’s temperature about the sea is its position.
• The land, as well as the sea, has different temperatures.
• The ocean heats up and cools down gradually when contrasted to the land.
• The land quickly warms up and then cools off.
• As a result, the difference in temperature above the water is smaller than the temperature differential on the globe’s surface.

Ocean currents

• Ocean currents are massive water streams that travel through the oceans.
• There are two kinds of these: warm and cold.
• Warm ocean currents warm the beaches that they pass along.
• The warmth of the beaches along which cold ocean currents run is reduced.

Streams of Air

• The temperature is also affected by the route of air masses, such as ocean breezes and land.
• The regions influenced by warm air masses have higher degrees, whereas the areas influenced by cold air masses have lower temperatures.

What Is The Current Situation Of Temperature And Climate?

According to the tentative WMO State of the Global Climate 2021 assessment, which is based on information for the first nine months of 2021, the past 7 years are all on track to be the 7 warmest. Because of a brief cooling “La Nina” event earlier in the year, 2021 is only anticipated to be the 5th through 7th warmest year. However, this does not offset or alter the long-term warming trend. With sustained ocean warming and acidification, sea-level rise has increased from 2013 to a new peak in 2021.

Several UN agencies, national hydrological and meteorological services, and scientific experts contributed to the report. It emphasizes the negative effects on food supply and population displacement and the devastation to critical ecosystems and the halting of progress toward the Green Development Goals. It was unveiled at a media briefing on the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26.

At the present rate of growth in greenhouse gases, we will witness a temperature rise significantly beyond the Paris Agreement limits of 1.5 to 2 ° C above pre levels by the end of the 21st decade,” Prof. Taalas said. “We have to try-making opportunity to get back on track in COP26.”

What Is The Impact Of Temperature Rise And Fall?

Storms, floods, heatwaves, and droughts are all worsening due to rising temperatures. A warmer temperature produces an environment that can gather, hold, and drop extra water, altering weather patterns such that wet areas grow wetter and dry ones become drier.

As per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ten climate and weather disaster events in the United States generated at least $1 billion in losses in 2015, including severe storms, droughts, floods, and fires. From 1980 to 2015, disasters cost $5.2 billion per year (adjusted for inflation). If you look at the years from 2011 to 2015, you’ll discover that the annual average cost was $10.8 billion.

According to scientists, climate change is now regarded as “the greatest worldwide health hazard of the twenty-first century,” according to scientists. It’s a hazard that affects us all, particularly children, the old, low-income communities, and minorities, in several ways, both directly and indirectly. As the temperature rises, so does the number of illnesses, hospital visits, and deaths.

Rising temperatures exacerbate air pollution by raising ground-level ozone, which is produced when pollution from automobiles, factories, and other sources reacts with sunshine and heat. The fundamental component of smog is ground-level ozone, and the hotter it gets, the more again we have.

Conclusion

Along with Factors controlling the temperature distribution, other parameters and the ones described above have a role in temperature distribution control. Winds, the soil composition, the elevation and appearance of the surface, and so on. Light-coloured soil, for example, has a major impact on the biggest chunk of solar irradiance, whereas dark soil absorbs more insolation.