Atmospheric circulation

Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air, and the means (together with the ocean circulation, which is smaller http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/JRD/MET/WGASF/workshop/PDF/I5trenberth.doc.pdf) by which heat is distributed on the surface of the Earth.

Related Topics:
Ocean circulation - Heat - Earth

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The large-scale structure of the atmospheric circulation varies from year to year but the basic structure remains fairly constant. However, individual weather systems - midlatitude depressions, or tropical convective cells - occur "randomly", and it is accepted that weather cannot be predicted beyond a fairly short limit: perhaps a month in theory, or (currently) about ten days in practice (see Chaos theory). Nonetheless the average of these systems - the climate - is quite stable.

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