Earth's Energy Balance

The flow of energy through the climate system is described along with its perturbations arising from human-induced climate change. The role of the atmosphere, oceans, land, and ice components of the climate system are detailed along with the hydrological cycle and interactions that give rise to large variability, such as the El Niño phenomenon. The mass and specific heat of the main components play a major role in storing and moving heat and energy around. The main cause of climate change is the changes in composition of the atmosphere and the enhanced greenhouse effect from increasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, offset somewhat by pollution. This produces an Earth Energy Imbalance, and the extra heat has profound influences, including increasing the global mean surface temperature.