Large-Scale Interaction of Oceans, Continents and the Atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract

The main interaction between oceans and continents is due to the atmosphere. As a result of this interaction, winds, heat flows and masses are generated between continents and oceans. In this section, we will touch on a little-covered topic about the largest thermal interaction of oceans, continents, and the atmosphere in terms of energy, including those arising due to seasonal fluctuations in their temperatures caused by the annual course of solar radiation. To answer the question about the magnitude and structures of seasonal and climatic heat transfer over oceans and continents, we will consider two components of heat and moisture flows from the ocean to the atmosphere—one component arises solely due to seasonal fluctuations in parameters (temperatures and wind), the other due to conditionally constant wind temperatures throughout the years. Further, we will discover the structures of global heat transfers by studying the phase mismatch of the temperature and pressure fields of the atmosphere. A tool for conducting such a phase analysis will be a shift phase, which detects a shift between two similar functions on a segment. This research program requires many explanations, which we will consistently provide below.

1. Introduction

A tool for calculations for turbulent heat and moisture flows at the water–air interface is the semi-empirical relations (1):

$$Q=c_p\rho c_{h}U\left(\mathit{Tw}-\mathit{Ta}\right),Q_e={\rho }_a{L}_e{c}_e\mathrm{U}\left({\mathrm{e}}_0-{\mathrm{e}}_z\right),$$E1

where $c_h,c_e$ are the coefficients of turbulent heat and moisture exchange in the air, ρ and $c_p$ are the density and heat capacity of the air, $L_e$ is the specific heat of evaporation, $e_0,e_z$ are the actual humidity of the atmosphere and the absolute humidity of air saturation at water temperature, U is module of the driving wind, $Q_h,Q_e$ are heat and moisture flows. These ratios are commonly called bulk formulas. Heat flow maps according to the calculations of (1) are given in many publications and reviews. Detailed maps of heat flows according to bulk formulas (1) are given in [1, 2]. Flow calculations differ by 15–40% from different authors. Today, radiation measurements of fluxes from space are considered the most promising, but they also give a spread of flux values of 20–30% (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

It follows from the relations (1) that extreme heat flows occur at a strong speed of the portable wind (western transfer in the atmosphere) blowing from the continent to the ocean, the greatest temperature differences are water-air in the transition zone ocean-continent.

Formulas (1) are derived under the condition that there are no horizontal temperature gradients of water and air, which are always present in the ocean and atmosphere. A different parametrization of large-scale heat fluxes taking into account horizontal gradients is given in [3] to calculate integral heat fluxes for an annual period, in which the ideas of the relations (1) were used. For this, general assumptions were made that all parameters in (1), temperature, humidity and wind (U) were conditionally represented as a sum of two components, such as water temperature, where, is the annual period. Further, the large-scale portable wind was expressed in terms of geostrophic wind, depending on atmospheric pressure gradients. The key point was the author’s idea to use atmospheric pressure as the sum of two terms, where the pressure of dry air, is the partial pressure of water vapor (humidity). The use of these assumptions and Bowen’s relation on the similarity of heat and moisture fluxes made it possible to obtain simple formulas for calculating the integral annual heat fluxes at the water-air boundary in the form of (2) [3]:

$$\begin{array}{l}\tilde{Q}={\alpha }_T\underset{t_0}{\oint }{T}_w{\mathit{dT}}_a,{\tilde{Q}}_e={\alpha }_e\underset{t_0}{\oint }{e}_0{\mathit{de}}_z,{\overline{Q}}_T=A_T\left(\mathit{\text{const}}\nabla {\overline{T}}_a+\nabla e_z\right)\left({\overline{T}}_w-{\overline{T}}_a\right),\\ {\overline{Q}}_e=A_e\left(\mathit{\text{const}}\nabla {\overline{T}}_a+\nabla e_z\right)\left({\overline{\mathrm{e}}}_0-{\overline{e}}_z\right),\end{array}$$E2

where

${\tilde{Q}}_{Т},{\tilde{Q}}_e$ are unidirectional flows of explicit and latent heat on average per year due to fluctuations ${Т}_{а},{Т}_w,e_0,e_z$, where ${\overline{Q}}_T,{\overline{Q}}_e$ are flows of heat and moisture due to constant climatic values throughout the year ${Т}_{а},{Т}_w,e_0,e_z$, and multipliers ${\alpha }_q,{\alpha }_{е},A_T,A_e$ are dimensional constants. The analytical conclusion of the integral formulas (2) can be obtained independently of the bulk formulas (1) on the basis of ideas about the weak thermodynamic memory of the water-air system or on the basis of the connection of horizontal gradients of water and air with vertical gradients of atmospheric temperature over the ocean.

The calculated heat and moisture fluxes according to (2) showed a good correspondence with the flow calculations according to (1). In (2) we obtain an amazing property of large-scale thermal interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere. When the constant climatic temperatures of water and air are equal, the heat flow between the ocean and the atmosphere, formed due to the difference in constant temperatures, stops. But in this case, a different component of the heat flow may remain due to fluctuations in these temperatures near the average value.

This implies the assumption that the greatest seasonal-oscillatory heat flows are where the greatest seasonal temperature fluctuations are observed, i.e. in the mid-latitude areas of the ocean. Calculations confirmed this hypothesis [4]. Figure 2 show the distribution of integrals $Q=\mathit{\text{cons}}\oint T_w{\mathit{dT}}_a$ (see formula 2) in the ocean as heat flows. The geometric interpretation of the integral is the polar area of the temperature hysteresis loop (S) on the graph of the dependence or in annual temperature fluctuations, and. Therefore, Figure 2 gives the distribution of temperature loops, the dimension of which $S=\underset{t_0}{\oint }{T}_w{\mathit{dT}}_a$, that is, ${\left(\mathrm{gra}{\mathrm{d}}^{0}C\right)}^2$, see formula (2).

Figure 2.

Distribution in the world ocean the value of integrals $S=\underset{t_0}{\oint }{T}_w{\mathit{dT}}_a$ (see formula 2) as the structure of the seasonal heat flow from the ocean to the atmosphere over an annual period.

Figure 3 shows seasonally-fluctuating heat flows. The shaded areas show the reverse heat flows from the ocean to the atmosphere. Figure 3 shows seasonallyfluctuating heat flows.

Figure 3.

Distribution of unidirectional “seasonal-oscillatory” heat fluxes $\tilde{Q}={\alpha }_T\underset{t_0}{\oint }{T}_w{\mathit{dT}}_a$ (see formula 2) per year. Areas of negative flows with values (−4 to 0) are shaded. In these areas, condensation of moisture prevails over the evaporation, of the double-hatching area and extremely high fluxes into the atmosphere.

The distribution of seasonal climatic and climatic heat fluxes determined by formulas (2) in the same ocean area is different. Figure 4 shows the total flows of apparent and latent heat in the North Atlantic.

Figure 4.

The annual average seasonal (a) and climatic (b) components of the total heat transfer (explicit and latent heat) from the surface of the North Atlantic.

The seasonal component of heat ha Figure 4 is “tied” to the ocean-continent boundary zone and does not have such a gap along the Gulf Stream as the climatic component. Seasonal heat flow does not have a maximum in the tropical zone, where fluctuations in temperature and humidity throughout the year are minimal. The climatic heat flow is associated not only with the proximity of the continent but more with the Gulf Stream itself. It is assumed that the sharp break in the maximum of the climatic heat flow in Newfoundland is caused by the complex hydrology of the large-scale flow. Here, large volumes of cold waters flow into the Gulf Stream from the north, large-scale deepening of waters occurs and the beginning of the Gulf Stream branching.

The unidirectional seasonal-oscillatory transfer of apparent and latent heat into the Earth’s atmosphere averaged over latitudinal zones per year is shown in Figure 5 [5]. The maximum seasonal heat flows occur in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere, although the area of the oceans in the southern hemisphere is larger than in the northern. With a degree of simplification, it can be said that temperature fluctuations in temperatures and humidity on Earth, due to seasonal fluctuations in solar radiation and the distribution of continents, heat the northern hemisphere more than the southern hemisphere. Hence, the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere is on average 2.3 warmer than the southern hemisphere [6], and in the absence of seasonal heat transfer, the average surface temperature of the continents in the northern hemisphere at a value of 5 would be 1.3 lower. There is no doubt that a seemingly insignificant increase in the temperature of the atmosphere and the surface of the continents in the northern hemisphere, due to seasonal heat flows, leads to an increase in the mass of the biosphere and the diversity of its species, especially in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the Earth.

Figure 5.

The average annual zonal heat flow from the ocean to the atmosphere in the hemispheres of the Earth, including explicit and latent heat, $W/m^2$.

2. The structure of divergence of heat fluxes in the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere as a structure of climatic zones of heating and cooling of the atmosphere

The main thermal energy comes from the ocean to the atmosphere from the surface of relatively localized zones—the so-called energy-active areas of the ocean. The question arises how and where this heat spreads in the atmosphere. To answer this question, the divergence of heat fluxes on the plane of each surface of the atmosphere, in the surface layer and on standard geopotential surfaces of the atmosphere at the level of 850, 700, 500, 300, 200, 100, and 50 mb. Heat transfer was taken into account by atmospheric geostrophic wind, which accounts for at least 90% of all portable air movements. These works [7], carried out in the northern hemisphere as a whole on climate data in the geostrophic approximation, for the first time showed that horizontal heat flows in the atmosphere have stable zones of divergence and convergence of heat flows in the ocean-continent transition zones, which are associated as sources of heat and “cold” in the atmosphere [7]. The divergence calculation was carried out using the Stokes theorem. To obtain the structure (map) of heat flows in the atmosphere, the heat flow carried out by air movements through the lateral boundaries in each isolated elementary flat block of the atmosphere with a size of 5x5 degrees of the computational grid was calculated. Then, to verify the results, a similar calculation was repeated on a smaller-scale grid, but the results of the calculations did not change much.

A map of the heat flux divergence isolines was constructed on each isobaric surface. Positive values of divergence correspond to the removal of heat from the circuit (heat source), and negative values correspond to the introduction of heat or its absorption zone. As a result, digital maps of heat fluxes for the northern hemisphere were obtained on 8 isobaric surfaces for each of the 12 climatic months, as well as on average by season and in general for the year, including integral data in the surface layer of the atmosphere (136 maps). These cards carry previously unknown information, but it is not possible to show them with a cavity in the chapter. We will cite those that prove the existence of only two large-scale structures in the system of horizontal heat transfer in the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere. We refused to use data with a higher resolution, calculations were made based on the ratios (3). The horizontal heat transfer (Q) through the side surface of one elementary plane contour of the atmosphere (L) of unit “thickness” on the geopotential surface is equal to:

$$Q=C_{p}h{\oint }_L\rho \left(x,t\right)T\left(x,t\right)\overrightarrow{v}\left(x,t\right)\mathit{dLW}/m^2$$E3

where Cp is the heat capacity, h = 1 m is the thickness of the atmospheric layer 1 m, p is the air density, T is the temperature, is the horizontal air velocity on the horizontal contour L, and dL is the element of the contour. The normal component of the geostrophic air velocity to the contour, taking into account the Coriolis parameter at different latitudes, is equal to

$${\left(V_g\right)}_n=\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$1$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$\mathit{\rho f}$}\right.\right)\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$\partial P$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$\partial L$}\right.\right)\left[m/sec\right],$$E4

where ${\left(V_g\right)}_n$ is the normal component of the geostrophic wind velocity to the contour L, f is the Coriolis parameter P is atmospheric pressure.

To calculate the speed in the atmospheric layer 1015–850 mb. A constant multiplier Cs is added to expression (4)—a dimensionless multiplier reflecting the change in geostrophic wind in the surface and boundary layer up to heights of 700 m. The effect of this friction on the change in wind direction in the applied method of calculating the divergence of the flow can be ignored (see below). Consequently, the heat transfer through the contour (L) in the geostrophic approximation, taking into account (3) and (4), has the form (5):

$$Q=C_p\underset{L}{\oint }\mathit{\rho T}{\overrightarrow{V}}_{n}d\overrightarrow{L}=\left(\frac{C_p}{f}\right)\underset{L}{\oint }T\frac{\partial P}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}\left[W/m^2\right],$$E5

where Cp is the heat capacity of the air, Formula (5) was used to calculate heat fluxes at altitudes above 850 mb, so there is no correction factor for geostrophic wind.

If the heat transfer Q in (3) is represented in the coordinates of temperatures T and geopotential (Z) on an isobaric surface through a contour (L), then by analogy with the derivation of expressions (4) and (5), taking into account the definition $\frac{1}{\rho }\nabla Р=\nabla Z$. we obtain an expression for heat transfer through the surface of the contour (L) in the coordinates of temperature (T) and geopotential (Z) through the contour L (6):

$$Q=\mathit{\text{Const}}\underset{L}{\oint }T\frac{\partial Z}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}\left[\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{m}}^2\right]$$E6

where Const = (Cp/fg), g is the acceleration of gravity, Cp is the heat capacity of the air, and formula (6) was used to calculate heat flows at altitudes above 850 mb, so there is no correction factor for geostrophic wind.

Consider the location of large-scale zones of heating and cooling of the atmosphere in winter and summer, Figure 6.

Figure 6.

Zones of divergence of heat flow in the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere as sources of heat and cold. The blue zone is radiators or sources of “cold”. Red zones are heat sources. The surface of the atmosphere is 850 mb. Energy flow $W/m^2$.

The results of calculations displayed on the map of the northern hemisphere revealed a rather unexpected, but quite understandable picture. Unexpected is the fact that the zones of heat removal and nose in the atmosphere, as volumetric sources and “heat sinks”, form a structure on the map that does not fundamentally repeat the contours of continents and the ocean, and are located mainly in large-scale ocean–continent transition zones. It can be seen that the zones of divergence of large-scale heat fluxes in the atmosphere do not form a mosaic picture on the map but will unite into stable and homogeneous regions in sign [7], Figure 6. These regions are approximately similar to the geopotential disturbance zones in large-scale Wallace waves [8].

Figure 6 shows a map of heat transfer on the surface of 850 mb on average for the summer and winter periods and for the year. The average structure for the year is similar to the winter structure of heat transfer for a reason. In the winter structure, the regions of atmospheric heating have such a high power that they are clearly manifested in the average annual structure. The summer structure is clearly visible here, in which the atmosphere heaters are the continent of Eurasia and the western regions of America and Africa with water areas, and the central regions of the oceans act as refrigerators.

Figure 7 also confirms the hypothesis that there are only two structures in the atmosphere of the heating and cooling zones of the atmosphere, winter and summer.

Figure 7.

Zones of positive divergence of heat flows as an area of atmospheric heating (red contour) and its cooling (black contour 0 on various geopotential surfaces).

In Figure 7, the map represents the sources and sinks of heat in the atmosphere in an average year on the surface of 1013 MB, 850 MB, 700 MB, 500 MB, and 300 MB. The red counter marks the heat, and the black contour limits the zone of heat absorption. The most powerful heat area in the atmosphere is situated on the border of the continent of Asia and the ocean manifests at all altitudes.

Figure 8 shows maps of the divergence of the heat flow on an isobaric surface of 850 mb in the seasonal course for 6 months from summer to winter, from July to December. In July, the “cold” zones in the centre of the Pacific Ocean are clearly visible and the cooling zone (heat absorption) in the Atlantic is less intense. In summer, the oceans act as refrigerators of the atmosphere. The continents (Eurasia, central and western regions of the North) are the heaters of the atmosphere in summer. America and Africa). In winter in December, on the contrary, continents have atmosphere refrigerators, oceans and ocean-continent transition zones. In the interval between winter and summer, winter and summer heat transfer structures in the atmosphere are transitional. Figure 9 shows how the summer structure of heat flows is consistently destroyed, and how the winter structure is consistently built. Similarly, in March, the winter structure will collapse, and the summer structure is being built (the limitation of the volume of the article does not allow you to bring the corresponding maps). Here, there is a hypothesis about the existence of only two main structures of heat transfer.

Figure 8.

Maps of heat flows on the surface of the atmosphere 850 MB in different months of the goal from December (above) to June, reflecting the evolution of the divergence structure of large-scale horizontal heat flows.

Figure 9.

Diagram of the interface of the ocean–atmosphere system. In the boundary layer of air (S), the heat flow q2 is mainly determined by the turbulent exchange at the boundary. The vertical heat flux q3 in the active layer of the atmosphere (A) is determined by convective movements. In the quasi-static conditions of the climatic seasonal course in the OSA system, the flows are equal to q1 = q2 = q3. The principle of operation of a natural heat pump pumping heat into the atmosphere is shown in the diagram.

At the top in Figure 10 given the map of heat flow in an average year, identical to Figure 6, calculated for each mouth, and then summarized by 12 months. This is the total heat source $Q$. At the bottom in Figure 10 shows a map of heat sources, as the difference between the maps of the total divergence of the heat flow $Q$ and its average value $\stackrel{-}{Q}$ for the year, that is, as the value $\tilde{Q}=\left(⟨Q⟩,-,\stackrel{-}{Q}\right)$. The value of $\stackrel{-}{Q}$ is calculated using data on overspending for the year, i.e. it is obvious that the value of $\tilde{Q}$ appears due to annual fluctuations in atmospheric temperatures and pressures. In the area of Figure 10, where the zones are not filled with crosses (x), seasonal fluctuations in these areas increase the constant climatic sources of heat and coolness. These positive areas coincide with the zones of powerful heat flows from the ocean to the atmosphere in the Asia-Pacific region. In general, Asia as a continent in its central and northern parts is a source of heat in the atmosphere due to seasonal temperature fluctuations and geopotential. Zones of heat flow due to seasonal fluctuations have the form of interlayers between regional and Central mainland regions (Euro-Asia).

Figure 10.

The contribution of seasonal temperature fluctuations in the formation of zones of heat sources.

Figure 11 shows the maps of the regions of the atmosphere at different isobaric surfaces where seasonal fluctuations in climate increase the heat sources.

Figure 11.

The season variations, T and P, tends to increasing (or decreasing) heat zones in atmosphere.

In general, qualitative picture of the contribution of seasonal variations in heat sources at different heights and at ground level data in Figure 4 is qualitatively similar to the pattern on the surface of 850 mb (Figure 10). Differences begin to emerge more significantly since the height of 500 mb and above.

Atmospheric zones at different heights (Figure 11), filled crosses, increase the release of heat from these zones due to seasonal fluctuations.

The most powerful climatic zones removal of heat in the atmosphere (as well as the removal of “cold”) are shown in the whole thickness of the atmosphere from the surface layer to altitudes of 25–30 km with a small displacement relative to each other on the heights of 1–7 km.

The geographical position of the zones of maximum and minimum divergence of the horizontal heat flow in the atmosphere experiences shifts near the climatic position from year to year. The largest offsets were observed near atmospheric heating zones in the northwestern Atlantic. Figure 10 shows the area of shifts in this area in January over a period of 30 years. Their position is “tied to the ocean–continent transition zones” (Figure 12).

Figure 12.

Large-scale climatic (average annual) permanent zones of divergence of heat fluxes on the surface of 850 mb and the interannual variability of the Centre of the zones from year to year in the period 1975–2005. Figure 10 shows the heat flows in the January climate $\mathit{Вт}/{\mathrm{m}}^2$, the lower one shows the areas of their shifts from year to year.

Greenland behaves like a mainland according to the location of the zones, which can be the basis for revising the status of the island in international law.

Interannual changes in the position of the heating and cooling zones of the atmosphere do not violate their climatic structure of mutual position relative to the contour of the continents.

3. The role of air humidity in the formation of zones of divergence of heat flows

According to formulas (6) and (7), the meridional heat transfer through the contour of the Earth’s latitude (L) in the geostrophic approximation has the form (7):

$${\mathrm{Q}}_m=\mathit{\text{const}}\underset{L}{\oint }\rho {\mathit{TV}}_n\mathit{dL}=\left(\frac{c}{\mathit{\rho f}}\right)\underset{L}{\oint }T\frac{\partial P}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}$$E7

Relations (6) and (7) are applicable to the geographical contour of a large-scale atmospheric heating zone located on the ocean-continent boundary, Figure 6. Let us imagine atmospheric pressure as the sum of two components – dry air pressure, depending on temperature, and partial pressure of water vapor, $P=P_T+e$. Substituting this value into (7), we have (8) and (9)

$${\mathrm{Q}}_T=\mathit{\text{const}}\underset{L}{\oint }T\frac{\partial P}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}=\mathit{\text{const}}\underset{L}{\oint }T\frac{\partial \left(P_T+e\right)}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}\equiv \mathit{\text{const}}\underset{L}{\oint }T\frac{\partial \left(e\right)}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}$$E8

Ration (2) means that the detected large-scale zones of heat removal from the heating of the atmosphere are formed due to the mismatch of the full temperature and pressure, and the mismatch is due only to humidity. In these zones, the predominant condensation of water vapor evaporated by the oceans occurs. The removal of the flags from the atmospheric zone of removal of non-evaporated moisture (non-condensed water vapor) is associated with a mismatch of the humidity and dry airfields by the ratio (9)

$$Q_e=\mathit{\text{const}}\underset{L}{\oint }e\frac{\partial \left(P_T+e\right)}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}\equiv \mathit{\text{const}}\underset{L}{\oint }e\frac{\partial \left(P_T\right)}{\partial L}\mathit{dL}$$E9

We see a paradoxical phenomenon when in the Earth’s atmosphere, with the conditional absence of moisture, the meridional large-scale heat transfer from the equator to the pole ${\mathrm{Q}}_{\mathit{mT}}$=0 stops, and with the conditional disappearance of dry air pressure, the meridional transfer of water vapor $Q_{\mathit{me}}$=0 stops (8) and (9). The ratios (8) and (9) are valid for geostrophic air movements, but geostrophic movements account for about 90% of all portable atmospheric movements. The above relations (6) and (7) are valid for the calculation of large-scale heating zones in the combined cases (8) and (9).

4. Amazing efficiency of the ocean-to-atmosphere heat transfer system as a natural heat pump

Understanding this fact without the help of formulas at the level of a natural process is associated with the concept of a heat pump. In climate, it is possible to distinguish structures that can be called natural thermal machines that generate mechanical energy in the atmosphere and in the ocean due to temperature gradients as large-scale structures of geophysical convection. In the Earth’s climate system, large-scale heat transfer at the water–air interface is also an analogue of a technical heat pump device as a natural heat pump (hereinafter abbreviated as NHP). A heat engine consumes thermal energy and generates mechanical energy, while a heat pump, on the contrary, consumes mechanical energy and pumps heat from a cold reservoir to a hotter one. Let us explain how the giant heat pump between the ocean and the atmosphere is manifested and functions in nature.

The scheme of heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere will be explained in Figure 13. The heat carrier in a natural heat pump is air. The heat carrier in a natural heat pump is air. The volume of air near the ocean surface is saturated with turbulent heat with ocean temperature, and has a specific lower than the overlying layers of air. The portable wind carries this volume of air higher, where it expands at a lower pressure and gives off heat to the atmosphere. Wind in a natural heat pump plays the role of its mechanical "mover". A mechanical compressor is a wind that transfers heated air from an area of high atmospheric surface pressure of 1015 mb to an area of low pressure of 850 mb, while the volume of air expands and gives heat to the atmospheric layer, which can be called the pump condensate (see Figure 13).

Figure 13.

The scheme of functioning of the ocean–atmosphere heat pump in nature.

A natural heat pump (DHP) is identical in principle to a technical heat pump. In winter, it works as a heater, pumping heat from the ocean into the atmosphere, and in summer it works as an air conditioner, pumping “cold” into the atmosphere and cooling it. In this design, the atmosphere plays the role of a compressor (in the surface layer) and a coolant expander (air volume) at an altitude of about 850 mb. The portable wind is a mechanical drive and an element of the NHP operation, it provides a transfer in the atmosphere of the lifting of the driving air layer. With a wind of 5 m/sec, the volume of air rises from the surface per day to a height of about 450 meters, with a wind of 10 m/sec to a height of about 800 meters.

5. The efficiency of a natural heat pump

The efficiency ($\epsilon$) of the operation of a heat pump can be determined by a simple formula $\epsilon =\frac{Q}{W}$, where $Q$ is the amount of heat energy pumped by the pump between the heat reservoirs per unit of time, and $W$ is the power of mechanical energy spent on the operation of the pump. This formula is limited by a limit condition ${lim}_{w\to 0}\frac{Q}{W}={lim}_{w\to 0}\frac{Q\left(W\right)}{W}\ne \infty$, the conditions for which are not related to a natural phenomenon. Let us evaluate the efficiency of a natural heat pump in the mid-latitude zone of the northern hemisphere using this formula. The average annual heat flow in the latitudinal zone of the Atlantic 30–40 N will be taken in magnitude $Q=50W/{\mathrm{м}}^2$.

The mechanical power of the pump is equal to the every-second generation of the kinetic energy of air movement in the 1015–850 mb layer, the mass of which in this layer is M = 0.185$\mathit{кг}/{\mathrm{м}}^2$ . The average speed of portable movements in this layer will be selected to the maximum value, $V=10m/sec$. This maximum wind speed will correspond to the minimum efficiency of the heat pump. Then the instantaneous kinetic energy of a column of air in a column with a unit surface area of the ocean (or the mechanical power of a heat pump) is equal to $W=\frac{1}{2}{\mathit{MV}}^2=\frac{1}{2}0,{185}^{\ast }100\mathit{кг}\ast {\mathrm{м}}^2/{sec}^2=9,25W/m^2$. From here, we find an estimate of the efficiency of a natural heat pump in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere$\epsilon =\frac{Q}{W}=\frac{50}{9,25}\approx 5,4$. In this estimation, we assumed that all the kinetic energy of the air column movement is spent on displacement and lifting of the air volume $1{м}^3$ from the water–air boundary to the height of the geopotential surface 850 mb. Such an assumption is an exaggeration, therefore, the real efficiency of the phenomenon of a natural heat pump may be higher and fantastically high in some water areas, taking into account the dissipation of kinetic energy of air movement.

A heat pump consumes mechanical energy to transfer heat energy between reservoirs, including for transferring heat from a cold body to a hot one. A heat engine, on the contrary, uses thermal energy to generate reversible energy (including mechanical energy). Analogues of such machines exist in the climate as structures of natural heat engines (NHM). The efficiency of real heat engines in the framework of nonlinear thermodynamics can be calculated using the formula obtained in [9].

The formula for the efficiency of a real heat engine without any conditions for linearity or stationarity of processes has the form ${\eta }_{\mathit{\text{effect}}}=1-\sqrt{\frac{T_{\mathit{\text{cool}}}}{T_{\mathit{\text{heat}}}}}$, where is the temperature of the refrigerator, is the temperature of the heater. Unlike the Carnot formula and other approximations, this formula is applicable in a climate where temperatures may not be average, but instantaneous values.

For a heat engine, where the heater can be considered the air temperature at the equator 300${}^0к$, and in the Arctic 243${}^0к$, the maximum efficiency is 0.1 (10%), and with an ocean–mainland temperature difference of 10${}^0к$, the efficiency of the heat engine as an element of geophysical convection is wound $\eta =1-\sqrt{\frac{273}{283}}=0,018$. These estimates are overestimated by an order of magnitude because they correspond to the maximum rather than average efficiency mode without taking into account losses on viscosity, turbulence and thermal losses on radiation. The real value of efficiency lies in the range $\eta \approx 0,01-0,001$. Thus, in the climate system, natural heat engines (NHM), with their negligible mechanical efficiency, not only soften the climate by transferring heat and smoothing temperature gradients but also activate a natural heat pump, the efficiency of which exceeds the efficiency of NHM by two orders of magnitude (or more), consuming a small part of their power.

6. Conclusions and some doubts

The heat flows from the ocean to the atmosphere, isolated as a separate component, turned out to be significant (no less than 30%). It turned out to be directly independent of the constant climatic temperatures of the ocean and atmosphere and reaches a maximum in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Therefore, it can be argued that the seasonal heat flows into the atmosphere forms and softens the climate in the middle latitudes in the same way as the climatic heat flows from the ocean.

1. The heat flows from the ocean to the atmosphere, isolated as a separate component, turned out to be significant (no less than 30%). It turned out to be directly independent of the constant climatic temperatures of the ocean and atmosphere and reaches a maximum in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Therefore, it can be argued that the seasonal heat flows into the atmosphere forms and softens the climate in the middle latitudes in the same way as the climatic heat flows from the ocean.

2. Climatic heat sources in the atmosphere (areas with an extreme divergence of heat fluxes) are not located over the continents or the oceans but are only situated at the boundary ocean-continent. For this reason, the climatic surface air temperature in the northern hemisphere is warmer than the southern, and the structure of large-scale heat transfer in the atmosphere does not coincide with the structure of the boundaries of the oceans and continents. Large-scale zone as the removal of heat in the atmosphere can be called “sources of heat” and “ventilation”, and the zone’s “flow” (absorption) of heat is “absorption” of heat. Large-scale atmospheric zone heat “ventilation and suction” create a regime of global “atmospheric ecology”. “Ventilation” is associated with zones of removal or accumulation of impurities in the air.

3. Sources of heat in the atmosphere over the oceans are located at mid-latitude regional energy-active zones of the ocean, where the atmosphere receives heat. One part of the thermal zones of the atmosphere is part of the continent, and the other part is located in the marginal zone of the continent–ocean. The most powerful heat-divergent area atmosphere is in the East of the Asian continent, shown in Figures 6–8 located above the ocean and over the continent.

4. The geographical structure and intensity of “thermal zones of the atmosphere” is mainly determined by the humidity (moisture content) of air.

Concept and doubts

The concept and ideas about the huge impact of seasonal-oscillatory heat transfer in the ocean–atmosphere geophysical system on the Earth’s climate raise new scientific challenges and scientific doubts. The ocean–atmosphere system has a weak thermodynamic memory, and seasonal temperature fluctuations in it are not “obliged” to depend on their constant values and constant gradients. Meanwhile, such a dependence exists in the mid-latitude regions of the Earth, which indicates the mechanisms of “long-range action” between seasonal fluctuations and constant values arising in the connections of oceans, continents and the atmosphere. Such a long-range action raises both doubts and the possibility of d forecasting (scientific “foresight”) short-term climate change.