If I open the windows in my room, which has AC turned on and it’s cool in the summer, it will quickly become as hot as it is outside, why isn’t it happening around the globe?
In: Physics
The very short answer is because Earth is not a static system. Between it’s orbit (closer and further from the sun in an ellipse), rotation and tilt (daily cyclic energy input as well as the Coriolis effect of the planet dragging the air along with it ), and even the moon’s tug there are plenty of forces constantly acting to slosh things around. More importantly, the sun is adding an enormous amount of energy to the system…but only on half the globe at once. This daily heating and cooling – thus cyclic expansion, contraction, and thermal updrafts cause most of what we consider weather and climate. Even if there was no sun suddenly, there isn’t enough time in half a day to get the world’s temperature differentials to settle out and become homogeneous.
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