Diathermancy

The Amazon river delta showing no clouds above river waters because water is not a diathermanous fluid

Diathermancy (from "dia" through and "thermē" heat) is the property of some fluids that allows rays of light through them without itself being heated. A diathermanous fluid is thus "permeable" by heat.[1]). Diathermany was first described by German physicist and chemist Heinrich Magnus in the 1800s. Atmospheric air is diathermanous; therefore, air is not heated by sunshine, but by long wave heat reflected by soil, and especially, water on the Earth surface. Water, on the contrary, is not diathermanous, and it is heated by sunshine directly.

Atmospheric heating from oceanic waters

Northeastern Pacific Ocean Surface Water Temperature

References

  1. ↑ Diathermanous (
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