Land-Atmosphere-Cryosphere Interaction

29% of the Earth’s surface is land. This number may remind you of the dominance of the oceans on the planet, but humans live on land. The importance of land for humans’ living-hood should been easily seen in the history of warfare, the most recent world war included. Acquiring more "living space" is at least one important factor behind the Germany and Japan's aggression that triggered world war II. The war throw millions of homo sapiens into unprecedented horror and destruction. If Germany or Japan developed nuclear bombs at the same time the United States did, the world may not look like at all what we see today.

The land's condition is influenced by many factors, chief among which are atmospheric conditions. The atmospheric conditions are in turn affected by the land conditions. A snow covered ground with the help of a clear night can make the overlying air considerably colder than it needs to be. The processes that enable the state of the atmosphere and the state of the land to mutually influence each other are referred to as land-atmosphere coupling. Land-atmosphere interaction encompasses lithosphere-biosphere interaction, lithosphere and atmosphere interaction, and biosphere and atmosphere interaction.

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