Editing Convection (section)

====Atmospheric circulation====
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[[File:Earth Global Circulation.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Idealised depiction of the global circulation on Earth]]

'''Atmospheric circulation''' is the large-scale movement of air, and is a means by which [[thermal energy]] is distributed on the surface of the [[Earth]], together with the much slower (lagged) ocean circulation system. The large-scale structure of the [[atmospheric circulation]] varies from year to year, but the basic climatological structure remains fairly constant.

Latitudinal circulation occurs because incident solar [[radiation]] per unit area is highest at the [[heat equator]], and decreases as the [[latitude]] increases, reaching minima at the poles. It consists of two primary convection cells, the [[Hadley cell]] and the [[polar vortex]], with the [[Hadley cell]] experiencing stronger convection due to the release of [[latent heat]] energy by [[condensation]] of [[water vapor]] at higher altitudes during cloud formation.

Longitudinal circulation, on the other hand, comes about because the [[ocean]] has a higher specific heat capacity than land (and also [[thermal conductivity]], allowing the heat to penetrate further beneath the surface ) and thereby absorbs and releases more [[heat]], but the [[temperature]] changes less than land. This brings the sea breeze, air cooled by the water, ashore in the day, and carries the land breeze, air cooled by contact with the ground, out to sea during the night. Longitudinal circulation consists of two cells, the [[Walker circulation]] and [[El Niño-Southern Oscillation|El Niño / Southern Oscillation]].
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