By Julian Schmitt and Tapio Schneider Everything in the climate system begins with sunlight. Weather, ocean currents, and the growth of forests are all powered by solar radiation entering at the top of the atmosphere. The amount arriving at any particular place and time is the insolation: the solar power passing through a unit area tangential to the top of the atmosphere. Insolation is a function of the solar radiative energy flux, which varies with the Earth–Sun distance, and the elevation of the Sun in the sky, which varies with location, time of day, and time of year. Aside from…
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