Entropy production of the earth system

Thermodynamic aspects of the long-term mean properties of the global climate system and turbulent fluid systems are reviewed. The necessary background mate- rial of thermodynamics and the climate system are introduced. General expressions are found for the rate of entropy production for a fluid system undergoing turbu- lence. These expressions show that the Earth's climate system correspond to state of maximum entropy production due to the dissipation of heat from turbulent fluids. This was applied to the long-term mean of the global climate by Garth Paltridge. The Earth's climate is driven and maintained by radiation exchanges with space. The absorption of solar radiation is the main source of entropy production; however, this appears to be irrelevant to the maximized properties associated with turbulence. The results tend to support the hypothesis of the maximum entropy production that include a large range of nonlinear fluid systems.