Various aspects of our studies of the kinetic energy balance are discussed, using an improved scheme of computing the horizontal and vertical transports of the kinetic energy with the observed wind and geopotential data over North America. On a firmer basis than before, it has been shown that there is a considerable amount of kinetic energy dissipated outside the planetary boundary layer, particularly at the jet-stream level. This also may imply that intensity of the atmospheric general circulation is significantly higher than is being assumed in most of the numerical models of the atmosphere.