The climate system is complex. The typical equilibrium response times of the climate system s various components range from a single day to millenia.
Solar radiation is the only significant source of energy driving the climate system.
Because air is largely transparent to incoming short-wave solar radiation, this radiation does not directly heat the atmosphere very much. Instead, it warms the surface of the Earth. The amount of warming that results from solar radiation depends in part on the nature of the earth s surface. Ocean and land surfaces warm at different rates, and land covered by vegetation absorbs and reflects solar energy differently than do deserts or ice-caps. In this way, surface variations create complex patterns of surface energy distribution.