Water, the bloodstream of the biosphere, determines the sustainability of living systems. The essential role of water is expanded in a conceptual model of energy dissipation, based on the water balance of whole landscapes. In this model, the underlying role of water phase changes--and their energy-dissipative properties--in the function and the self-organized development of natural systems is e...

A simple fixed-SST model of a zonal circulation in the tropical atmosphere has been developed that has separate boxes for the ascending and descending branches of the atmospheric circulation. This circulation resembles the Walker circulation. This is the first box model to determine the fractional widths of the warm and cold pools. The atmospheric model contains an explicit hydrologic cycle, a ...