Chapter 3, Lesson 2 - Climate, Weather, and Life.

How are earth's average temperature determined?

Earth's average temperature is determined by the balance between the amount of heat that stays in the atmosphere and the amount of heat that is lost to space.

Where does the most heat arrive on earth?

More solar energy per unit area, and therefore more heat, arrives each year near the equator than near the poles.

What causes ocean currents?

Ocean currents are driven and shaped by patterns of warming and cooling, by winds, and by the locations of continents.

What are the three main climate zones?

The difference in heat received at the poles compared to the equator creates three main climate zones: tropical, temperate, and polar.

What is climate and weather produced by?

The global climate system composed of winds and ocean currents.

What is a mass extinction?

The global climate system creates regional climates that govern which plants, animals, and other organisms can survive in different places. Most of the time, these changes occur slowly enough, giving enough time for many species to adapt and survive. Sometimes, it happens too fast, and species aren't given time to adapt and vast amount of species die off. This is called a mass extinction. This has happened five times in Earth's history.

What does the unequal distribution on the earth create?

Winds and ocean currents.

Has global climate drastically changed over the history of the earth?

Yes

Do the greenhouse gases enter and leave the atmosphere?

Yes, as part of global cycles of matter. Therefore, their concentration can be affected by changes in those cycles.

What causes more rain to fall on one side of a mountain than the other?

prevailing winds hits the Mountains, the moist air is pushed upwards, and cooled, creating clouds, then rain or snow. Air that makes it over the mountains sinks, warms, and dries out.

What is the greenhouse effect?

Where greenhouse gases allow visible light to enter the atmosphere but trap heat.

Finish the sentence. Because Earth is curved and tilted on its axis...

...solar radiation strikes the surface at angles that vary from place to place and at different times of the year.

What do the climate changing factors lead to?

Both warm and cold periods over long periods of time.

What are some non-human causes of climate change?

Changes in solar energy, variations in Earth's orbit, meteorite impacts, changes in the distributions of continents and oceans, mountain building, volcanic activity, and meteorite impact.

What does climate change involve?

Climate change involves changes in temperature, clouds, winds, patterns and amounts of precipitation, and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

What is climate?

Climate is defined by patterns and averages of temperature, precipitation, clouds, and wind over many years. It also includes the frequency of extreme weather events. Climate is usually pretty predictable.

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Climate is patterns and averages over time, frequency of extreme weather events, and easy to predict. Weather is short-terms changes, and hard to predict.

Describe the process of upwelling.

Cold ocean water near the poles sinks and flows along the ocean floor. This bottom water then rises to the surface of some places.

What happens when air travels to the places it sinks to places where it rises?

It creates winds.

What happens if changes in earth's matter cycles increase the greenhouse gases that enter the earth's atmosphere?

It retains more heat, and the earth warms.

What factors shape regional climate?

Regional climates are shaped by latitude, by the transport of heat and moisture by winds and ocean currents, and by the geographic features such as mountain ranges, large bodies of water, and ocean currents.

What is the main force that shapes earth's climate?

Solar energy that arrives as sunlight striking Earth's surface.

What happens when sunlight hits earth's surface?

Some energy is reflected back into space, and some is absorbed and converted into heat. Some heat re-radiated into space, and some is trapped within the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. .

What do prevailing winds blowing over the ocean create?

Surface currents that profoundly affect weather and climate in coastal areas. In fact, interactions between atmosphere and hydrosphere shape weather and climate in coastal areas around the world. These interactions also influence water temperature and salinity that affect marine organisms and communities.

How are Earth's climate determined?

Th global climate system is powered and shaped by the total amount of solar energy retained in the biosphere as heat, and by the unequal distribution of that heat between the equator and the poles.

The amount of heat that stays in the atmosphere and the amount of heat that is lost to space is mainly controlled by what?

The concentrations of three gases in the atmosphere - carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor: greenhouse gases.

What is the directness of the sun on the tiled earth.

The sun is most direct at the earth's equator, and less direct of the earth's poles.

What is weather?

Weather consists of short-term changes in temperature, precipitation, clouds, and wind from day to day, or minute to minute. This can be tough to predict.